Although the Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata was recently held in Valledupar, Colombia, now in that same city the statues of the three most renowned vallenato artists were removed: Diomedes Díaz, Kaleth Morales and Jorge Oñate, to whom homage was paid during the festival. 

As explained by the Municipal Administration of Valledupar, headed by Mayor Mello Castro, the dismantling of the images is due to the little care they have had over the past years, such as the deterioration of these by weather issues, and especially by acts of vandalism committed in recent days, plus the recently inaugurated work of Jorge Oñate suffered deterioration.

"We are going to remove and restore them. But our call to the community is to value the sculptures of these men who have raised our vallenata music, many of them are no longer here and unfortunately, due to the mistreatment of some unscrupulous people, they have been affected. We need more civic culture so that all of us, locals and visitors, can continue to enjoy them", said Castro.

14 sculptures will be restored by the artist and sculptor Jhon Peñaloza, who pointed out that among the deterioration of the sculptures was the removal of the golden diamond of Diomedes Díaz, whose right hand was also broken.

The park La Provincia de Valledupar, located on the banks of the Guatapurí River, was inaugurated in 2019. The mayor's office did not specify how long the repairs of the 14 sculptures will take, but did confirm that the removal of these will be temporary.