Cartagena: The Colombian city of Cartagena will remove a plaque laid by Prince Charles following controversy over his tribute to the English dead in a failed attempt to capture the city in 1741.
The plaque unveiled Friday in a colonial fort acknowledged the "valor and suffering" of those who died while "seeking to take the city" from the Spanish.
Some local residents were angered by the tribute because it made no direct mention of the Spanish lives lost while they successfully defended the city from British assault.
It was partially damaged by an activist Wednesday, local media reported.
"Putting a plaque in honor of the British is like a bank putting a plaque in honor of the thieves who robbed from it," regional governor Juan Carlos Gossain told El Tiempo newspaper.
"Vernon came to steal and plunder Cartagena but could not," Gossain said about the English Admiral Edward Vernon who led the attack.
The port was under siege for a week in 1741 during the colonial wars over control of the Caribbean. Thousands of fighters were killed in the battle.
The victory by the overmatched Spanish forces was critical to the country`s continued dominance of the Americas in the 1700`s.
