'They were racists': Confederate monument found vandalized in Nashville
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A Confederate monument in Nashville's Centennial Park was found vandalized early Monday morning.
The bronze statue of a soldier was found with red paint splattered on it, and "they were racists" was written on a side plaque.
The vandalism covers the more than 500 names of the Frank Cheatham Bivouac. Cheatham was Tennessee planter and Confederate general. The statue was erected in 1909.
Metro Nashville Police Department Capt. Chris Taylor said police were investigating.
"There is video that takes place in Centennial Park. We will review that," Taylor said.
He said such vandalism is rare.
"The parks do experience vandalism – usually it's tagging, more of a neutral nature. This is more focused, obviously, with a political statement associated," he said. "A political-nature vandalism hasn't happened in at least seven or eight years."
The monument is one of two Confederate monuments on public land in Davidson County. There are about 70 such monuments across Tennessee.
It's not the first Confederate monument to be vandalized in Tennessee.
In 2017, a privately owned statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest – a Confederate general and the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan – along Interstate 65 was covered in pink paint. The paint remains, after the owner purposely left it there to draw attention to the statue.
Ongoing controversy over Confederate monuments
Monuments and statues about the Confederacy have been a source of controversy across the U.S. Defenders cite their historical value, while detractors argue they memorialize slavery and racism.
A bust of Forrest that sits in the state Capitol building has been a particular point of contention. Republican leaders, including Gov. Bill Lee and House Speak Glen Casada, have stopped short of calling for the bust's removal but have said they support the addition of context to the statue. What that context would look like remains unclear, and no action has been taken on the issue.
The city of Memphis removed two Confederate monuments from public parks in December 2017 by selling the parks to a nonprofit, which then removed the monuments. The sale sidestepped the Tennessee Historical Commission, which has authority over removing or relocating statues and monuments on public land and had refused to allow the statues' removal.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 'They were racists': Confederate monument found vandalized in Nashville
