MANASSAS, Va. (AP) — The National Park Service says it is making repairs to a Stonewall Jackson monument that was vandalized at Manassas National Battlefield.
The park service says the vandalism at the monument depicting the Confederate general was discovered early Wednesday morning and occurred overnight.
White paint was splashed on the granite base of the monument, and the word “Dead!” was added in gold spray paint.
Park service rangers are investigating the incident.
“We really want to be a place for dialog and not destruction,” Superintendent of Manassas National Battlefield Park, Brandon Bies told WTOP. “Manassas National Battlefield is a place that tells all stories. We tell the stories of the union of the confederates of the free African American family that lived on the battlefield where the fighting took place.”
The monument was erected in 1940. The first battle of Manassas, or Bull Run, was the first major battle of the Civil War. It was also where Stonewall Jackson earned his nickname when his brigade helped rally Confederate troops fending off a Union charge.
“It was there on July 21, 1861, where Bernard Bee, another confederate officer, said: ‘There stands Jackson like a stone wall.’ And that name stuck and the rest is history,” Bies said.
WTOP’s Kristi King contributed to this report from Washington.
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