Members of the CSIM will seek to replace the remainder of the monument with a statue of Tangaxuan II, the last ruler of the Purépecha State.

[4] Fray Antonio, bishop of the diocese of Michoacán, was chosen as he ordered the construction of the city's aqueduct [es] during a time of drought in 1785.

[6] The monument is located at the starting point of the aqueduct on a vegetal slope that symbolizes the Loma de Guayangareo, where the city was built.

[7] The creation of the monument started in 1993[6] and was supervised by a board of trustees chaired by José Antonio Romo, a local photographic chronicler.

[2][9] By 2020, members of the Supreme Indigenous Council of Michoacán (Spanish: Consejo Supremo Indígena de Michoacán; CSIM), which is integrated by 60 indigenous communities in the state,[10] requested to the local government the removal of the monument, citing their disagreement with it, and labeled it as racist, a symbol of slavery and submission, and a reminder of the Spanish conquest of the Purépecha State, which they termed as a genocide.

[11] The CSIM also argued that the monument recalled centuries of exploitation and trivialized how the architects and priests treated the Indigenous populations.

[14] In this regard, the CSIM published a bulletin informing that "[g]iven the indolence, racism, discrimination and lack of attention by the Morelia City Council [...] we decided collectively in a General Assembly of Authorities, to remove on our own account the so-called sculpture 'The Builders', for being a symbol of subordination, representation of slavery and an emblem of the Spanish genocide".

[18] The event took place on the 492nd anniversary of the execution of Tangaxuan II, the last ruler of the Purépecha State, by Nuño de Guzmán, a Spanish conquistador.

[19] The police arrested 24 people in various locations, 21 of whom were adults who agreed to repair the damage caused; the remaining three were minors who were referred to the corresponding court.

[18] Prior to its toppling, Padilla Retana said: "In the time of Francisco Antonio de San Miguel there was a great famine, he was a source of work for multiple indigenous people who came from various places.

[c] After its partial destruction, Padilla Retana commented that the monument was not intended to "humiliate anyone, nor denigrate our roots" and offered to rebuild it but mentioned that there are no molds of the original sculptures.