'Digital protest': Trump Towers renamed 'Dump Tower' on Google Maps

It was short-lived, but for a few hours this weekend a couple of buildings in Vancouver, B.C., and Manhattan, N.Y., had their names unofficially — and derisively — changed on Google Maps. 

Google Maps users in Vancouver noticed someone had changed the name of the under-construction Trump Tower to "Dump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver."

In Manhattan, Trump Tower's central location on Fifth Avenue, which is also home to president-elect Donald Trump, also had its name changed to "Dump Tower" on Google Maps. U.S. media outlets were reporting a second location in New York, at Columbus Circle, was renamed as well.

By early Sunday morning, the names had been returned to normal.

Digital protest

Trump's new tower in downtown Vancouver has drawn a lot of opposition over the past year, due to the business tycoon's controversial stances on various issues during his bid for presidency.

Many people, including Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, have publicly asked that the Trump name be removed from the building.

Vancouver-based political analyst Todd Hauptman calls the Trump Towers' name change a "digital protest."

"It shows that people around the world and even at home here in Canada, we have very strong feelings about this president-elect," said Hauptman.

"I do believe it will get on his radar," added Hauptman. "I do think Donald Trump has such a thin skin, I would not be surprised if he tweets about it ... somewhere between two and three in the morning."

Hauptman says people can expect to see a variety of types of protests against the billionaire throughout his presidency.

"We'll continue to see people protest and this won't go away unless Donald Trump doesn't do what he says he's going to do."

In an email statement late Sunday night, Google responded to the name change incident.

"Some inappropriate names were surfacing in Google Maps that should not be, and we apologize for any offense this may have caused. Our teams immediately took action and have fixed the issue," wrote a Google spokesperson.

Meanwhile, the president-elect has not yet commented on the short-lived name change.