Independence Monument 1961 and 2012

I found this picture of Independence Monument from 1961 and then I had one I had taken in May 2012. I wonder if it is the same trees that are standing there today as the one you see on the picture from 1961, it looks like the same kind at least. Otherwise it seems like they have changed the streetlights and painted the monument in a reddish color. I didn’t know that the monument use to be grey.