Last modified on Fri 29 Jan 2021 13.32 EST Scores of tributes to slave traders, colonialists and racists have been taken down or will be removed across the UK, a Guardian investigation has found, with hundreds of others under review by local authorities and institutions. In what was described by historians as an “unprecedented” public reckoning with Britain’s slavery and colonial past, an estimated 39 names – including streets, buildings and schools – and 30 statues, plaques and other memorials have been or are undergoing changes or removal since last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests. The movement to remove contentious landmarks has involved a wide section of society, from schools and universities to private landlords, pubs, churches, charitable trusts and councils.