CNN —A city council in Australia has voted to remove a statue of William Crowther, a former premier of the state of Tasmania, who decapitated the body of an Aboriginal man. The statue’s removal would be the first of its kind in Australia, and would advance Hobart’s “standing as a welcoming and inclusive city,” the council said in a statement. Photo 12/Universal Images Group Editorial/Getty ImagesCrowther, who was Tasmanian premier in 1878-79, was accused of decapitating the body of Aboriginal man William Lanne and sending his skull to the Royal College of Surgeons in London. Tasmanian Aboriginal people fought for more than a century for Lanne’s skull to be returned from London and it was eventually buried in Tasmania in 1991. The planning committee passed this final vote 8-2 and the statue will now be taken down, unless appeals are lodged.

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Persons: William Crowther, William Lanne, Crowther, Lanne, Hobart’s, Anna Reynolds, “ Crowther, ’ ” Reynolds, ” Reynolds, “, Louise Elliot Organizations: CNN, Tasmanian, Royal College of Surgeons, Hobart General Hospital, University of Tasmania, Hobart City, Mayor, Facebook, Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre Locations: Australia, Tasmania, ”, London, Hobart, Tasmanian, Franklin Square, United States