Controversial art that replaced a dying solider with a beer bottle to be pulled by B.C. brewery

A B.C. brewery is changing a controversial label that showed an adaptation of a famous Vancouver statue.

Keeping watch over Vancouver’s Gastown is the statue of an angel holding a fallen soldier ascending to heaven.

The Angel of Victory was commissioned after the First World War as a memorial.

Products sold by Steamworks Brewing Co. feature an artistic adaption of the statue, with the dying solider replaced with a beer bottle.

When the image caught the attention of Ian Harrison, the Vancouver resident launched an online petition on Change.org demanding it be removed.

“I think it’s disrespectful and distasteful,” said Harrison. “I think if most Canadians were aware that this was being used, they would feel the same way as I would.”

Ottawa native Steven Hepburn learned about the controversial artwork while visiting Vancouver. He sent a letter Vancouver’s mayor and council urging they intervene.

“Replacing the image of a soldier who has taken his last breath and is being carried into heaven by an angel, with a beer bottle, sends the wrong message,” said Hepburn. “We should all care. Canadians should remember everyday the sacrifices that the men and women who fought for Canada made.”