Controversial Trump and Epstein statue torn down one day after it appeared
Moderated by Tomas Kauer 
A statue of US President Donald Trump hand-in-hand with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been removed from Washington, one day after it appeared.
The bronze protest art was placed in the city's National Mall on Tuesday (Wednesday Australian time).
It depicted the US commander-in-chief skipping alongside disgraced financier Epstein, who died in his jail cell on August 10, 2019.
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A plaque was mounted beneath the figures which read, "In honor of friendship month, we celebrate the long-standing bond between President Donald J. Trump and his closest friend Jeffrey Epstein".
Trump's former friendship with Epstein has been a topic of much debate since he returned to the Oval Office at the start of the year.
A group called The Secret Handshake claimed to be behind the work and said they had obtained a National Park Service permit to display it in the National Mall.
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Despite that, it was removed after just one day.
Eyewitness video appeared to show US Park Police dismantling and hauling away the statue before sunrise on Wednesday morning (Thursday Australian time).
A Department of the Interior spokesperson told NPR that the statue was removed "because it was not compliant with the permit issued".
They did not explain further.
The permit, which was obtained by NPR, included a clause that it may be revoked at any time provided the permittee is notified of the reason at least 24 hours in advance.
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A Secret Handshake group member claimed they were not given adequate notice.
"Instead, they showed up in the middle of the night without notice and physically toppled the statue, broke it, and took it away," they told NPR on the condition of anonymity.
"We do not know where it is."
They speculated that members of the Trump Administration "were trying to find ways to say we were not in compliance" and have the statue removed.
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"This is a literal example of the Trump administration toppling free speech when it has been legally permitted and approved because they are scared about whatever Trump is hiding in the Epstein files," they alleged.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson had previously spoken out against the statue.
Trump himself has not commented on it.
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