HONG KONG (Reuters). Reuters photographer Tyrone Siu spotted students chatting on an internet forum about how a statue that was seen as a symbol for Hong Kong’s freedoms was being reconstructed by construction workers.

HKU, University of Hong Kong stated earlier in the year that it would remove “Pillar of Shame,” a statue on its campus. Over two decades, the artwork featured dozens upon twisted human torsos that were torn and torn in commemoration of protesters murdered during China’s 1989 Tiananmen Plaza crackdown.

However, until Wednesday night the university had not taken any action to remove it.

Siu was 34 years old when he arrived at campus. The statue’s site had been covered with white plastic sheets on every side and was surrounded by yellow barricades. Siu claimed he heard metallic sounds that suggested the two-tonne, eight-metre-high statue would be removed soon.

According to him, he tried repeatedly to get to multiple viewpoints from the ground on campus but was escorted away by security personnel.

Siu left campus and began climbing up to a nearby hill. It was dark and steady, so it took him 10 minutes.

The journalist stayed with him and the other reporters for five hours until dawn. As photographers clicked from approximately 50m above the hill, workers moved the pieces of statue toward a shipping container.

Siu captured several images, including one showing around twelve workers dressed in yellow helmets. These are the kind that protesters wearing pro-democracy in 2019 during massive anti-government rallies. Siu was seen rolling the top of what appears to be the statue and wrapping up like a body wrap.

“I wasn’t thinking too much about what I was photographing, as it was difficult to see clearly and I was exhausted. Siu stated that he felt “lucky” for something moving. He was part of a Reuters Team awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for 2020 coverage of the Hong Kong demonstrations.

“Only after seeing the scene again with my camera did I realize that it seemed like they were carrying an unidentified body.”

The picture was shared widely on social media, and it was picked up worldwide by news outlets such as the BBC and Washington Post.

This statue was seen as a symbol of the broad-ranging freedoms the British former colony promised upon its 1997 restoration to Chinese rule. Beijing tightened its grip on Hong Kong by removing it.

Tiananmen remains taboo in mainland China, however Hong Kong holds the biggest annual vigils worldwide to mark the crackdown. Students and activists used candles to lighten the area and wipe down the statue before every vigil.

China responded in 2019 to Hong Kong’s demands for democracy. It imposed a broad, national security law on Hong Kong and “patriots-only” rules for its institutions.

Opposition politicians and activists were jailed by the new law, or for other alleged crimes. Many fled to exile. The law, according to Chinese and Hong Kong authorities has brought stability back after one year of turmoil.