But under a stone statue of a ferocious imperial lion (looking as if about to pounce), a young woman has stopped to have her picture taken.

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The base of the column is currently surrounded by fencing after pieces of stone fell from the statue in April 2012 and again in December.

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They want the Kremlin to pay for a full-size statue - a tribute cast in stone to the men who lost their lives.

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In Pisek, south Bohemia, the railing, cobbles and a statue from the Czech Republic's oldest surviving stone bridge -- constructed in the 13th century -- were swept away by floodwaters.

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Behind a dazzling colonnaded facade sat a gold-and-ivory statue of Zeus, divine master of ceremonies a stone god so huge that, had he stood up, his head would have gone through the temple roof.

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