Rare pictures of Hanoi's mysterious Statue of Liberty

May 24, 2016 | 07:28 pm PT

Obama is in Vietnam now! Does he know that Vietnam is the only country other than the U.S. to have had an original copy of the Statue of Liberty from France? It used to sit on top of the Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake where John Kerry walked around yesterday. We present to you photos that shed some light on the statue and its curious history.

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The Statue of Liberty on top of the Turtle Tower in Hanoi in an undated postcard.

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The Statue of Liberty in Neyret Square. Photo: Cartacaro.fr

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Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi. Photo: Flickr

The Statue of Liberty on top of Turtle's Tower in Hanoi, facing away Cathedral St. Joseph on the right. The picture was taken by Doctor Louis Sadoul in 1890. Photo: chimvie3.free.fr

The Statue of Liberty sits on top of the Turtle Tower in Hanoi, facing away from Saint Joseph's Cathedral on the right. The photo was taken by Doctor Louis Sadoul in 1890. Photo: chimvie3.free.fr

picture from west of hoan kiem lake (L'Independance tonkinoise, special issue, 7-1891) chimvie3.free.fr

Photo taken from west of Hoan Kiem Lake featured in L'Independance Tonkinoise, special issue, July 1891. Photo by: chimvie3.free.fr

A drawing of the Statue of Liberty with Cathedral St. Joseph in the background (Liberte sur le Pagodon du Petit - Lac a Hanoi) for dailies La Vie Indochinoise, December 1896. Photo: Internet

A drawing of the Statue of Liberty with Saint Joseph's Cathedral in the background (Liberte sur le Pagodon du Petit - Lac a Hanoi) for La Vie Indochinoise, December 1896. Photo: Internet

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