Students at Germany's University of Kassel and nearby residents staged a rally on campus on Wednesday calling for the reinstatement of a statue representing victims of Japan's wartime sexual enslavement.

The university’s student council president gave a speech denouncing the school’s decision last Thursday to seemingly acquiesce to pressure from Japan and abruptly remove the Statue of Peace.

The student leader said he was appalled by the school's submission to Japan's right-wing conservative government rather than supporting student efforts to protect and learn from the statue. He urged the university to swiftly restore the statue.

Last July, the Student Council permanently installed the statue on campus, coinciding with international contemporary art festival Kassel Documenta. It was the first time such a statue was installed at a German university.
The university, however, requested the statue's removal, citing the expiration of the exhibition’s permission.

The student body plans to stage a silent protest starting at 3 p.m. every Wednesday as it continues to negotiate the statue's reinstallation.