A statue of Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate Army, was knocked down overnight and smashed into two pieces in Roanoke, Virginia, police said Thursday.
Preliminary investigation and evidence indicated that the monument was intentionally damaged, the Roanoke Police Department said in a statement.
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The collapse of the Lee monument comes as the local city council was weighing the decision to permanently remove the statue from its place across the street from City Hall.
“It is regrettable that this has occurred in light of the Council having initiated the process provided for in the State Code to facilitate the legal removal and relocation of the monument,” city manager Bob Cowell said, according to ABC13 reports.
“I am sure that the Council will proceed with the process and make a final decision on the fate of the monument.”
Cowell said city crews have removed the monument and stored it until the statue’s fate is decided by the council.
Police are investigating the overthrow as an act of vandalism and no arrests have been made, police said.
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“It is an unfortunate incident, but this will not prevent us from going through the legal process to remove the monument,” said Mayor Sherman Lea. “We have a public hearing scheduled for the second Council meeting in August to allow citizens to give their opinion on this matter, and we will proceed based on the outcome of the public hearing.”
Debates to remove statues of figures that perpetuated racial injustices throughout American history have been ongoing across the country, particularly after George Floyd’s death in May. Floyd, an unarmed black man, died in police custody after a former Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than 8 minutes.
In the wake of national protests, calling for the dismantling of the police and stopping violence, particularly against blacks and Hispanics, Governor Ralph Northam, D-Va., Issued an ordinance giving localities the authority to make decisions on statues. with racial undertones.
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According to the ordinance, the Roanoke City Council says the earliest the Lee monument could be removed is in mid-September.
