As the rebels swept across Syria, symbols that had once seemed omnipresent collapsed.

In Aleppo, a statue of one of Mr. al-Assad’s brothers, Bassel al-Assad, on a horse was toppled. The horse remained. 

In a village north of Damascus, the capital, a giant statue of the ousted leader’s father, former President Hafez al-Assad, was felled.

The statues were carried away, possibly for scrap metal.