'F*** Trump': Robert E. Lee Statue in Charlottesville Vandalized With Graffiti
A Robert E. Lee statue was vandalized on Wednesday in Charlottesville, Virginia with an expletive about President Donald Trump, local authorities have confirmed.
Photos shared by WVIR-TV show the monument of the Confederate general in Charlottesville’s Market Street Park spray-painted with the words “F— Trump.”
The news station also reported that there was an “illegible word on the back, and blue paint splattered around the base.”
While the Charlottesville Police Department is investigating the vandalism, they have no suspects, The Hill reports.
This isn’t the first time, however, the statue has been vandalized.
A spokesperson for the police department told The Hill that the statue has been vandalized “several times before.”
They added that the parks and recreation department was moving quickly to get the graffiti cleaned up.
WVIR notes that the statue had been vandalized in July of 2015 with the words “Black Lives Matter,” July of 2017 with the words “Native Land,” and this year in February with the word, “Fredom.”
BREAKING: Someone has vandalized the Robert E. Lee statute in Market Street Park early this morning, writing an explicative about President Trump. The front of the fence was also knocked down. More details on your @NBC29 News at Noon. pic.twitter.com/FrjRP37eR1
— Caroline Coleburn (@CColeburnTV) July 24, 2019
#BREAKING: Someone vandalized the statue of Robert E. Lee in downtown #Charlottesville overnight, this time with an expletive (blurred) directed to @realDonaldTrump, blue paint on the base, and another word on the back. The statue was last vandalized with spray paint in February. pic.twitter.com/WRZmJtjNsB
— Matt Talhelm (@MattTalhelm) July 24, 2019
A couple of years ago, the Charlottesville City Council voted to remove the statue along with a statue of another Confederate general, “Stonewall” Jackson.
However, the effort was blocked by state Judge Richard Moore, USA Today reports.
The judge ruled in May that the statue was protected on Virginia law and a war monument can only be removed by local municipalities with permission from the state.
“While some people obviously see Lee and Jackson as symbols of white supremacy, others see them as brilliant military tacticians or complex leaders in a difficult time … and do not think of white supremacy at all and certainly do not believe in, accept, or believe in such,” Moore wrote.
“In either event, the statues to them under the undisputed facts of this case still are monuments and memorials to them, as veterans of the Civil War.”
The judge, however, allowed the city to rename the park from Robert E. Lee Park to Market Street Park, USA Today notes.
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