The statue was created in 1994 by artist David Adickes and stands 67 feet tall. Drivers on Interstate 45 traveling north will notice it right away. The statue is the eighth highest in the United States. In March 2008, it was defaced with graffiti. "UGLY" was written in large black letters on one side of its chest. After this incident, an advisory council was formed to create a plan to protect the statue. They decided that the only way to make the statue safe again was to remove it from I-45 and relocate it. In April 2009, the statue was removed from its location and taken into storage while these plans are made up. In December 2009, it was announced that the statue would be moved to a new location just outside downtown along Lamar Boulevard near the Texas State University campus. It should arrive there in mid-2010 for its reopening later that year. Admission to the museum where the statue is housed during renovations is free. The statue was built ten years after Sam Houston died at age 42. He had no children and his wife did not like Texas so she sent him back home to Tennessee. David Adickes was inspired to create this statue when he saw how much traffic went past Mayor Johnny Ward's office on North Main Street in Hamilton County, Texas, every day.