UNIVERSITY PARK -- It was another day of demolition at Penn State. Just one day after the NCAA handed down crippling penalties against the school and its football program, crews tore down the wall that was behind the Joe Paterno statue.
The sound of jack hammers and other equipment echoed through the Penn State campus, as crews tore down the wall that stood behind the Joe Paterno statue outside Beaver Stadium.
"I'm very saddened by it all, it's hard for me to take," Eugene Delozier said.
On Sunday, crews removed the Joe Paterno statue. The area where it stood in the open since 2001 has been blocked by tarps ever since.
The three-sided wall that surrounded the statue has now been demolished. Penn State football fans took pictures of the piece of history coming down.
"I've been an employee or volunteer at this field for 30 plus years. This is something I can't fathom," Delozier said.
Lindon Lake was driving through Centre County, and hoped to see the statue before it was taken down.
"We had heard there was a possibility of them taking it down, so we wanted to check it out and see what it was. On Sunday, we woke up at our hotel and we found out it was already taken down," Lake said.
The demolition had many people saying it was a sad day in Happy Valley.
"I`ve known Joe Paterno with my former job, he was on the board of directors. It`s just sad. It`s overwhelming," Jill Swanson said.
Even though Joe Paterno's statue was taken down, there are still ways he is being remembered on campus. Penn State's library still bears his name and the Peachy Paterno ice cream flavor is still available at the creamery.
"I think that's pretty good because it's going back to what he did for the university," Lake said.
Even though his statue is gone, Joe Paterno remains a presence on the Penn State campus.