More than a thousand Prague 3 residents signed a petition to rename Koněvova street after Queen Maria Theresa.

The street, a key artery in the capital, is named after Soviet military commander Ivan Stepanovich Konev, whose forces drove the Nazis from Prague but also suppressed 1956’s Hungarian Uprising.

“Queen Maria Theresa opened our country to modern history. Moreover, the original imperial road, built during her reign as part of the connection Prague – Kolín – Čáslav – Jihlava – Znojmo – Vienna, led this route,” states the petition. “We recalled the memory of a woman who, with her diligence and determination, became a respected head of state, and laid the foundations of our future society.”

Some residents of the Žižkov district are against renaming the street, arguing that it would involve excessive bureaucracy.

At the beginning of April, Ondrej Kolar, mayor of Prague’s sixth district, ordered the removal of the statue of Marshal Konev.

The statue was put in storage, for a planned Museum of the 20th century, which the Czech capital plans to open in the coming years.

Czech President Milos Zeman slammed the statute’s removal, accusing Kolar’s council of abusing the current coronavirus crisis, according to a presidential spokesperson.

Earlier in February, a group of politicians in Prague decided to honor the murdered Russian dissident Boris Nemtsov by naming a square in front of the Russian embassy after him.

The official renaming took place on February 27, the fifth anniversary of the opposition leader’s killing.

A few months later, the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius followed with a similar move. Last year, a “Boris Nemtsov Park” popped up in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, near the Russian embassy there.