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Activists Hoist 'Refugees Welcome' Sign At The Statue Of Liberty

Park rangers removed the sign within an hour, but its image went viral.
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By 

Senior Editor, HuffPost

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The Statue of Liberty can represent freedom, the United States’ colorful history of immigration or the American Dream, depending on who you ask.

But on Tuesday, Lady Liberty on Liberty Island displayed a very clear message at her pedestal, in the form of a hand-painted red and white sign. It read: “Refugees welcome.”

A group of anonymous activists placed the unauthorized sign over the base of the statue from the park’s public observation deck on Tuesday afternoon, according to a statement released by the National Park Service.

Park rangers removed the sign as soon as they were alerted of it. It was on display for less than an hour, NPS public affairs officer Jerry Willis told The Huffington Post.

Displaying unauthorized signs on a national monument is strictly prohibited, according to NPS.

U.S. Park Police is investigating the incident to identify the suspects, but a group behind a newly created Twitter account, known as the Alt Lady Liberty or @AltStatLiberty, has claimed responsibility for the sign.

An anonymous spokesperson for the group said in an email to HuffPost that “the action was taken by private citizens who are concerned about the un-American turn our immigration policy has taken and decided to speak up.”

The Alt Lady Liberty spokesperson emailed HuffPost a photo of the sign as it was being painted. They claimed they hung it up at the base of the statue at approximately 12:45 p.m.

The spokesperson said the group hung the sign up in protest of President Donald Trump’s federal travel ban on people from several Muslim-majority countries and his plans for a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.

“Immigrants and refugees make this country great. And turning away refugees, like we did to Anne Frank, does not make us great,” the Alt Lady Liberty spokesperson told HuffPost. “Refugees are welcome here, Muslims are welcome here and immigrants are welcome here.”

The sign was displayed on the same day that the Department of Homeland Security declared an open season on the deportation of undocumented immigrants.

The Statue of Liberty, a figure that once welcomed 14 million immigrants into the United States between 1886 and 1924, has come to symbolize different ideals and values over the course of American history.

Some people saw Tuesday’s “refugees welcome” sign as an act of vandalism.

Others celebrated it, claiming that the statue itself already represented the sign’s sentiments.

One Twitter user evoked the words of the sonnet, “The New Colossus,” written by American poet Emma Lazarus and inscribed on a plaque inside of the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal:

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story indicated that the Statue of Liberty was on Ellis Island. It is on Liberty Island.

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Before You Go

Women Refugees Over The Years
2016, Italy(01 of63)
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A woman looks through a window of rescue ship 'Aquarius' as more the 380 migrants arrive in the port of Cagliari, Sardinia, on May 26, 2016, two days after being rescued near the Libyan coasts. (credit:GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)
2016, Turkey(02 of63)
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Syrians woman holds her children after 50 refugees captured by Turkish coast guard while they were illegally trying to reach Greece's Kastellorizo island, in shores of Kas District of Antalya, southern province of Turkey on February 24, 2016. (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
2016, Syria(03 of63)
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Syrian women sit next to the fence during a sandstorm at a temporary refugee camp in the village of Ain Issa, housing people who fled Islamic State group's Syrian stronghold Raqa, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of the group's de facto capital on November 10, 2016. (credit:DELIL SOULEIMAN via Getty Images)
2016, France(04 of63)
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Kurdish Iraqi women leave aboard a bus the 'Jungle' migrant camp in Calais, northern France, on October 12, 2016, for a reception and guidance centre (CAO - Centre d'accueil et d'orientation). (credit:PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images)
2016, Serbia(05 of63)
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Migrants and refugees walk on January 8, 2016 after crossing the Macedonian border in the Serbian village of Miratovac. (credit:ARMEND NIMANI/AFP/Getty Images)
2016, Iraq(06 of63)
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Iraqis women displaced from the city of Fallujah queue up to collect aid distributed by the Norwegian Refugee Council at a newly opened camp where they are taking shelter in Amriyat al-Fallujah on June 27, 2016, south of Fallujah. (credit:AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)
2015, Germany(07 of63)
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Houda, 48, hugs her son Ihab, 30, a Syrian migrant from Deir al-Zor, as he and his family arrive at the railway station in Lubeck, Germany September 18, 2015. Picture taken September 18, 2015. (credit:Zohra Bensemra / Reuters)
2015, Greece(08 of63)
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Syrian refugee mother carries her child off a dinghy after arriving at a beach on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey September 18, 2015. (credit:Yannis Behrakis / Reuters)
2015, Greece(09 of63)
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A woman and a child peer from a bus, after migrants and refugees disembarked from a government chartered ferry, seen in reflection, in the port of Piraeus in Athens on November 27, 2015. (credit:LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images)
2015, Aegean Sea(10 of63)
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Refugees and migrants arrive at Lesbos island after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey on October 27, 2015. (credit:ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)
2015, Turkey(11 of63)
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Syrians fleeing the war rush through broken down border fences to enter Turkish territory illegally, near the Turkish border crossing at Akcakale in Sanliurfa province on June 14, 2015. (credit:BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)
2015, Greece(12 of63)
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A woman hugs a baby wrapped in an emergency blanket as refugees and migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey on October 1, 2015. (credit:ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)
2015, Greece(13 of63)
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A woman reacts as she arrived with other refugees on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey on a inflatable boat on October 1, 2015 near village of Skala Sikaminias, Greece. (credit:Matej Divizna via Getty Images)
2015, Aegean Sea(14 of63)
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A woman falls into the water with her child as they disembark off a dinghi as refugees and migrants arrive at the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey, on October 2, 2015. (credit:ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)
2015, Rwanda(15 of63)
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A Burundian woman carries laundry at the Gashora refugee camp in Gashora, Bugesera, Rwanda Wednesday April 29, 2015. (credit:J. Lawler Duggan/The Washington Post/Getty Images)
2015, Croatia(16 of63)
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A stampede occurs as Middle Eastern refugees rush to find space on a train headed to Beli Manastir on September 18, 2015 in Tovarnik, Croatia. (credit:Barcroft Media/Getty Images)
2014, Uganda(17 of63)
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A South Sudanese woman sleeps on January 7, 2014 at the Ochaya Rhino refugee camp in the Arua District, about 495 kilometres north west of Uganda's capital Kampala. (credit:AFP/Getty Images)
2014, Turkey(18 of63)
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This old woman lost all her power after reaching Turkey coming from Syria, on September 30, 2014. (credit:NurPhoto via Getty Images)
2014, Syria(19 of63)
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Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate in this August 11, 2014. (credit:Rodi Said / Reuters)
2014, Iraq(20 of63)
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2014, Central African Republic(21 of63)
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2013, France(22 of63)
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2013, Iraq(23 of63)
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Close-up of a young syrian refugee face with blue eyes in Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq on Sep. 21, 2013. (credit:Getty Images)
2012, Thailand(24 of63)
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A Burmese woman waits for food rations to be given out at the Thai Burmese Border Center inside the Mae La refugee camp June 7, 2012 in Tak province, Thailand. (credit:Paula Bronstein via Getty Images)
2011, Kenya(25 of63)
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2010, Darfur(26 of63)
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2009, Bosnia(27 of63)
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Milena Gavric, a 90-year-old Bosnian Serb refugee, holds her head as she waits for a U.N. delegation to visit her collective center in Srebrenica August 26, 2009. (credit:Damir Sagolj / Reuters)
2009, Kenya(28 of63)
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2008, Algeria(29 of63)
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2008, Afghanistan(30 of63)
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2006, Lebanon(31 of63)
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2005, Afghanistan(32 of63)
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An Afghan refugee holds her child as she sits in the sunshine inside their home in Kabul, 02 October 2005. (credit:FARZANA WAHIDY/AFP/Getty Images)
2005, Sri Lanka(33 of63)
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A mother washes her child in the Mahmoud Ladies School which is being used as a refugee shelter for homeless tsunami families. A mother washes her child in the Mahmoud Ladies School which is being used as a refugee shelter for homeless tsunami families in Kalmunai on Sri Lanka's east coast January 10, 2005. The death toll from the Asian tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off Indonesia on December 26, stood at 156,193 people, government and health officials said. (credit:Kieran Doherty / Reuters)
2005, Sudan(34 of63)
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2004, Gaza Strip(35 of63)
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2004, Darfur(36 of63)
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A displaced Sudanese woman stands behind her shelter which is under construction at the Autash camp, in the north of Nyala, in the southern Darfur region in Sudan September 28, 2004. The Darfur rebellion, launched in February last year, has forced more than one million from their homes in what the United Nations says is the world's worst humanitarian crisis. (credit:Zohra Bensemra / Reuters)
2003, Gaza Strip(37 of63)
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RA Palestinian woman with her children runs away from clashes between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli troops during an Israeli army operation in the Rafah refugee camp, in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec. 23, 2003. (credit:MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)
2003, Gaza Strip(38 of63)
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A Palestinian woman relative of [Rami Hassanen 22],watches his funeral from her house at Rafah refugee camp Southern Gaza Strip December 24, 2003. (credit:Mohammed Salem / Reuters)
2003, Pakistan(39 of63)
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An Afghan refugee woman dressed in a burqa and her child cross a road on their way to their home in a refugee camp in the outskirts of Islamabad, 18 November 2003. (credit:JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
2002, Gaza Strip(40 of63)
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Palestinian women show their identity cards to receive European Union and United Nations aid in the Rafah refugee camp south of Gaza Strip December 1, 2002. (credit:Reuters Photographer / Reuters)
2000, Russia(41 of63)
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Chechen refugees find some respite from a temperatures touching 40 degrees centigrade, in the river Sunza which flows nearby the Karabulak refugee camp in Ingushetia July 24, 2000. According to Muslim law the women must swim fully clothed. (credit:Reuters Photographer / Reuters)
1999, Albania(42 of63)
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A woman carrying a baby arrives in Albania on April 3, 1999 with fellow ethnic Albanian refugees fleeing Serb repression in Kosovo via the tiny border crossing of Pashtrikut, north of Kukes. (credit:JOEL ROBINE/AFP/Getty Images)
1996, Georgia(43 of63)
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Civil war in Georgia has forced a mother and her children to flee their village in Abkhazia and seek refuge in Zugdidi (Photo by David Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images) (credit:David Turnley via Getty Images)
1993, Georgia(44 of63)
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A refugee woman cries while holding a child September 29, 1993 near Sukhumi, Georgia. Abkhazian separatist guerrillas fought with Georgian soldiers in Sukhumi and surrounding areas and succeeded in ousting government forces from the city at the end of September, 1993. (credit:Malcolm Linton via Getty Images)
1993, Georgia(45 of63)
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A young woman carries a gun to protect her children in Georgia. (credit:Jon Jones/Sygma/Getty Images)
1991, Iran(46 of63)
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Kurdish refugee camp, during the Iran-Iraq conflict. (credit:Mohsen Shandiz via Getty Images)
1985, Lebanon(47 of63)
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A Palestinian woman and her daughter come back from the Shatila refugee camp, near Beirut on June 10, 1985, where they went to see what was left from their home after more than three weeks of fighting in the camp. (credit:ATTAR/AFP/Getty Images)
1984, Sudan(48 of63)
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Scenes of the feeding program in famine plagued Western Sudan on Dec. 1984. (credit:Bettmann via Getty Images)
1981, Honduras(49 of63)
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Women and their children in an El Salvadoran refugee camp at La Virtud, Honduras. (credit:John van Hasselt/Corbis/Getty Images)
1968, Vietnam(50 of63)
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Vietnamese woman carries her children and possessions on bamboo pole as she tries to escape fierce fighting in the Cholon suburb of Saigon during the Viet Cong Mini Tet offensive of the Vietnam War in May 1968. (credit:nik wheeler/Corbis/Getty Images)
1968, Vietnam(51 of63)
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Screaming refugee woman flees her home with bundled possessions during Viet Cong attack on Saigon's Chinatown during the Mini Tet Offensive in Vietnam in June 1968. (credit:nik wheeler/COGetty Images)
1968, Laos(52 of63)
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In this photo, women and children Laotian refugees await transportation to a new home at Luang Prabang airport. The refugees evacuated Nam Bac in the face of advancing Communist forces. (credit:Bettmann via Getty Images)
1967, Vietnam(53 of63)
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Weeping South Vietnamese villagers huddle together as they await evacuation to new homes following battle near here recently on Nov. 17, 1967. (credit:Bettmann via Getty Images)
1951, Bengal(54 of63)
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A Tibetan mother who has fled with her daughter over the Himalayas to Kalimpong, in northern Bengal on Feb. 24, 1951. (credit:Hulton Deutsch/Corbis/Getty Images)
1950, South Korea(55 of63)
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With the United Nations forces going over to the offensive in Korea, 'Picture Post' sends cameraman Bert Hardy to record the latest movements of American, British and South Korean troops. He photographs front-line scenes, the arrival of United Kingdom troops, U.S. landings at Inchon, wounded, prisoners, refugees and general scenes connected with --the Korean campaign.----Refugees, mainly Chinese, in the ruins of Inchon, key port that was bombarded and invaded by American forces. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
1950, South Korea(56 of63)
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Following the crossing of the 38th Parallel by North Korean troops and the United Nations intervention, 'Picture Post' sends cameraman Haywood Magee to the scene of the fighting to record the story of the retreat South, the stop-gap efforts that are being made to reform and the tangle of refugees, reinforcements and wounded circa 1950. He arrived at a time when U.S. and Korean troops were being driven back to the sea, prior to the arrival of substantial United Nations aid in the form of men and materials.---- Some of the women refugees who share the hardships of civil war in Korea. They have played their part in tending the wounded and shepherding the children when the gunfire opened. Now, when they are tired and near breaking point, the order comes for them to move on again. (credit:Hulton Deutsch via Getty Images)
1949, Indonesia(57 of63)
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Two starving women at a rehabilitation camp in Jokjakarta, Indonesia, where they are being fed by Dutch Government Agencies on Feb. 28, 1949. (credit:Keystone via Getty Images)
1949, Palestine(58 of63)
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Newly arrived Israelis in their tent quarters at Beit Lid after arriving from Europe following the Nazi Holocaust of World War II on September 1, 1949. (credit:STR New / Reuters)
1941, Russia(59 of63)
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1941: Women and children walking to eastern Russia after the German invasion. (credit:Max Alpert/Slava Katamidze Collection/Getty Images)
1939, France(60 of63)
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A grieving woman sits among the few possessions she could carry from Spain into France, where she has fled seeking refuge from the Spanish Civil War on Jan. 29, 1939. (credit:Hulton Deutsch/Corbis/Getty Images)
1939, Cuba(61 of63)
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Hebrew German refugees are denied the landing in Cuba when they arrive in Havana aboard the ship Saint-Louis; a woman can't land cried and is surrounded by her children in June 1939 in Havana, Cuba. (credit:Keystone-France via Getty Images)
1930, Germany(62 of63)
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Women prepare a meal at a camp in Germany. The refugee camp was set up by the NSV, a welfare organization in Nazi Germany circa 1930. (credit:Library of Congress/Corbis/Getty Images)
1915, Armenia(63 of63)
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Group of Armenian girls and women who escaped death or worse at the hands of the Turks, the fate of tens of thousands of their sisters, because of their Christianity on Nov. 26, 1915. (credit:Bettmann via Getty Images)
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