The residents of Memramcook are seeing with horror that the statue of Père Lefebvre, which used to stand in the center of the village, has been dismantled and lies on the ground in front of the former Institute of Memramcook. Erected near the Monument-Lefebvre in 1914, this imposing bronze work sculpted by artist Philippe Hébert celebrates the immense legacy of Father Camille Lefebvre, founder of the Collège Saint-Joseph and a key figure in French-language education in Acadie. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Sackville detachment) and the landowners of the former Institute of Memramcook, Heritage Management, were informed of this alleged attack on a heritage monument important to Acadians, particularly residents of Memramcook.
‘’The people of Memramcook are very attached to Père Lefebvre. His statue is an important heritage symbol for us and l’Acadie would not be as we known it without his dedication to French-language education in the 1860s. We hope that light will be shed on this incident, which deeply upsets us," said Maxime O. Bourgeois, Mayor of Memramcook.
Camille Lefebvre was born in 1831 in the Province of Quebec and died in Memramcook in 1895.
