Statue of famed Penn State coach Paterno taken down

Penn State Office of Physical Plant workers cover the statue of former football coach Joe Paterno near Beaver Stadium on Penn State's campus in State College, Pa., on Sunday, July 22, 2012. (AP / Centre Daily Times, Christopher Weddle)

Another tribute to late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has been dismantled, a day before the NCAA is expected to spell out sanctions against the now-infamous university.

A statue of Paterno, which depicts the ex-coach grinning and making a “number one” gesture with his right hand, was taken down from outside Beaver Stadium on Sunday.

The 7-foot-tall monument’s removal was announced after an investigative report accused Paterno and three other Penn State administrators of burying child sex abuse allegations against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

Sanduskywas convicted last month of 45 of 48 counts of sexual abuse on 10 boys.

PennStatepresident Rod Erickson said he decided to have the statue removed and put into storage because it “has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing” and would be “a recurring wound” to the victims of child abuse if it had remained.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told Washington reporters Sunday afternoon that President Barack Obama believed "it was the right decision" for the university to remove the monument.

However, the Paterno family issued a statement saying the statue’s removal "does not serve the victims of Jerry Sandusky's horrible crimes or help heal the Penn State community."

The family has said it plans to launch its own investigation into the sex abuse scandal.

Students at the university had used the bronze statue as a rallying point in the months that followed Paterno’s firing in November 2011, and death in January 2012.

But the statue was also a lightning rod for criticism, particularly after a report by former FBI director Louis Freeh suggested Paterno and other Penn State executives failed to report Sandusky to authorities, effectively allowing him to continue molesting boys.

The other Penn State figures named in the report are former university President Graham Spanier, Athletic Director Tim Curley and Vice President Gary Schultz.

Paterno’s family, as well as lawyers for Spanier, Curley and Schultz deny any suggestions that the four were deliberately protecting a pedophile.

On Monday, the NCAA said it would dole out “corrective and punitive measures” against Penn State but did not elaborate on what those measures would be.

A source told CBS News on Sunday that the penalties levied against Penn State university and its football team would be “unprecedented.”

NCAA President Mark Emmert told the Associated Press that he has not ruled out shutting down Penn State’s once-mighty football program in the wake of the scandal.

A number of buildings and tributes bearing Paterno’s name and image have been stripped of any association with the former football coach.

Nike removed his name from a child care centre at its headquarters in Beaverton, Ore. As well, an artist recently erased a halo from a mural depicting Paterno, and inserted a blue ribbon symbolizing support for child abuse victims in its place.

The business community surrounding the university is worried that stiff sanctions from the NCAA could destroy businesses in the area that depend on the tens of thousands who flood Penn State on game days.

"Football season, that's our moment. From the time we open our doors in the morning until kickoff, there's a line out the door," said Chris Stathes, who owns two breakfast restaurants nearby.

The bronze Paterno statue, which weighs more than 900 pounds, was built 11 years ago in honour of Paterno’s “contributions to the university.”

With files from The Associated Press