I don’t get it, why did the apes destroy the Statue of Liberty?

>>95877907
Are they still human at that point? If you go beyond the most surface level aesthetics don't they just become short eared, bearded elves? Humanity is defined by its ascendancy, not its biology.
The only way I can see to avoid it is to go for planet of the apes and root the dwindling humanity in modern real life civilization.