This subject of picture making is far from just black and white. There are many contradicting views and explanations of these texts and the regulations on picture/image making. And exceptions to the rules as well(which again are not all agreed upon)In fact there are books written on this topic with various views of different scholars. So best not to make any judgments here without thorough study.
That said I personally find the statue in poor taste for the message it can send across and will be quite happy if it was pulled down.