The McKinley statue hits the road. | Videos by Andrew Goff

Bill has left Arcata.

The statue of William McKinley that stood in the city’s plaza for more than a century, was loaded onto a truck this morning, before heading east on Highway 299 toward Ohio.

Arcata City Manager Karen Diemer told the Outpost this morning that the statue’s first stop will be at a restoration facility, to repair the patina that was damaged in October of last year, when someone splashed the statue with an acid-like substance.

The Outpost’s Andrew Goff was on scene at the City of Arcata’s corporation yard on South G Street this morning, where the driver told him that the statue was headed to Cleveland.

According to Google Maps, the drive from Arcata to Cleveland is 39 hours long and spans more than 2,500 miles.

Once the statue is restored, it will be taken to its new location in Canton, Ohio, home of the William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum.