Nashville Confederate Monument Vandalized: ‘They Were Racists’

A Confederate monument located in Centennial Park in Nashville, Tennessee, was vandalized on Monday with red spray paint and the words “They were racists.”

The monument is a bronze statue of a Confederate soldier. “They were racists” was spray painted on a plaque that has more than 500 names on it, the Tennessean reported.

Metro Nashville Police Department Capt. Chris Taylor said in a statement that police are investigating the incident, specifically for fingerprints on the monument or video that can aid in capturing the suspect.

“There is video that takes place in Centennial Park. We will review that,” Taylor said.

The bronze monument is one of two Confederate monuments that sit on public land in Tennessee’s Davidson County but one out of 70 throughout Tennessee.

Taylor said the type of vandalism he witnessed with this statue is rare and has not been reported for at least seven years.

“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.”

Left-wing protesters have resorted to vandalism over the years to attack several Confederate monuments because they think the statues represent racism and white supremacy.

Several attacks, many of which took place in the American South, were done to spark national movements of relocating the statues from public spaces.

The attacks have also increased since President Donald Trump’s election because these groups have often tried to link Trump’s election to racism.

On the day after Election Day in November 2016, authorities found red spray paint with the words “Your vote was a hate crime” on several Confederate monuments in Richmond, Virginia.