On Tuesday, the statues were finally put in place on top of the newly restored War of Independence Monument in Viljandi. The statues were created by sculptors Tiiu Kirsipuu and Ivan Zubakaand, who used photographs of Amandus Adamson's original works, to ensure the new memorial looks as much like the old one as possible.

At the same time however, the materials used to produce the new memorial were of a much higher quality.

"It has been a very responsible job. I believe that perhaps this has been the most responsible job in my sculpting career so far," said Kirsipuu. "It has definitely been the most labor-intensive. It's still been very labor-intensive and took a look time, as well as being physically difficult to accomplish," she added.

According to historian Jaak Pihlak, one of the people behind the move to restore the monument, the newly completed work is even more valuable than the original.

"I'm really happy, this work is excellent, it's very good. The most important change from the original monument is, that the pyramid-shaped plinth is actually made of granite, which comes from Portugal. In the original monument, the plinth was made of concrete. So, the new monument is even more precious and beautiful than the original one," said Pihlak.

The restoration of the monument cost a total of €725,000.

The statue will be officially unveiled at 9 a.m. on June 23, when Estonians celebrate Victory Day.

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