The statue is just a lump of metal. It only has significance and meaning to the extent that we ourselves imbue it with significance and meaning. 'We', however, are not homogenous and all of the same opinions and life experiences. Some will have no great feelings about the statue or Colston per se, but will abhor its toppling as an illegal act. Others will see the very prominent celebration and veneration of a slave trader as an obscenity, especially many people who are black.
The argument that a lawful democratic process should have been followed by those objecting to the statue disingenuously ignores that vested interests, such as the Society of Merchant Venturers, used their power and influence to frustrate and prevent those who were democratically elected from doing anything about the statue, even stopping something as simple as erecting a plaque which gave a more truthful account of who Colston was and what he did.
That different people have such different views about this issue is not especially remarkable. What is telling, is that those who complain most about the toppling of the statue and the 'not guilty' jury verdict, do not care what that statue meant to those who found it - and the lies it embodied - deeply offensive.
Context and meaning are everything in a case such as this. I doubt many Catholics in England now give a damn about the existence of the statue of Cromwell in Westminster, despite his persecution of Catholics. That is because persecution and discrimination is no longer a feature of the lives of Catholics in England. However, its erection in 1899 - the same era as the Colston statue - was very controversial, because the Catholic Emancipation Act had only been passed 80 years previously, and especially because Ireland was then part of the UK. For many people in Ireland, the statue remains offensive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of ... er#History
https://www.irishpost.com/news/fresh-ca ... ent-186439
The erection of Colston's and Cromwell's statues was a manifestation of 'culture wars' then. The outrage voiced now about the toppling of Colston's statue seems to be to be less about concern for law and order, and more about people being upset because they see themselves losing those 'culture wars'.