Contrary to the hopes of Xawery Dunikowski, the monument is also an object of utility. It serves viewers in shaping the identity of their community, it imposes its form in commemorating the victors and the victims. Important celebrations and festivities are organised by monuments, heads of state lay their wreaths here. Sometimes the monument presents a version of events which is not in line with the memory and the values cultivated by citizens. The groups which do not share the officially constructed history undertake grassroot actions against the unwanted objects. Monuments also get nicknamed, are maliciously repainted or fenced off by rows of trees. Decades or just years later, when political systems change and state borders shift, so does the pantheon of local heroes. The monuments of the ancien regime are then recycled, renamed or dismantled pursuant to the newly enforced laws.