A large molded bust of Edward Snowden is pictured in Fort Greene Park at the Brooklyn borough of New York in this April 6, 2015 picture provided by ANIMALNewYork.[Photo/Agencies]

NEW YORK - Suddenly, in the middle of the New York night, Edward Snowden's face appeared _ deep in a public park.

A 4-foot (1.2-meter)-high, 100-pound (45-kilogram) sculpted bust of the whistleblower now exiled in Russia was sneaked into Brooklyn's Fort Greene Park on Monday before dawn.

Animal New York, a city news website that first reported the incident, said the mysterious perpetrators were a small group of artists _ admirers of the former contractor who had leaked classified information from the National Security Agency to the media.

The activists hoisted the bust to the top of a Revolutionary War memorial, adding his name to a column, according to Animal New York.

The website says the group allowed it to document installation of the statue on the condition that it not reveal the identities of the artists.