State College, PA -- Penn State University removed the famed statue of the late Joe Paterno outside its football stadium Sunday morning.
Workers lifted the statue off its base and used a forklift to move it into Beaver Stadium as the 100 to 150 students watching chanted, "We are Penn State."
Construction vehicles and police arrived shortly after dawn Sunday, barricading the street and sidewalks near the statue, erecting a chain-link fence then concealing the statue with a blue tarp.
The statue of the coahing icon became a target for critics of the once-sainted football coach accused of burying child sex abuse allegations against retired assistant Jerry Sandusky.
Officials say Paterno's name will remain on the campus library.
The university announced earlier Sunday that it would take down the larger-than-life monument in the face of an investigative report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh that found Paterno, along with three top Penn State administrators, concealed the abuse claims against Jerry Sandusky.
AP