Vandals Spray Paint "Shame" On Robert E. Lee Statue In Dallas
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Someone has vandalized the General Lee statue at Robert E. Lee Park in Dallas.
Overnight, the word "shame" was spray-painted, in big white letters, on the base of the statue.
Friday morning a city worker used a pressure washer to take the spray paint off. A police report was filed.
Officials with the Lee Park & Arlington Hall Conservancy issued a statement that said:
"This criminal act creates alarm not dialogue, and the entire community is a victim because this park is a peaceful urban oasis. We have begun the repairs and are installing additional security measures immediately."
Less than two weeks ago, Dallas activists held an un-dedication rally at the park in Uptown, at Turtle Creek Boulevard and Lemmon Avenue. About two-dozen protesters gathered and pulled on the Robert E. Lee statue with a rope. The protestors said they wanted to rededicate the park to abolitionists.
During the protest community organizer John Fullinwider said, "Anybody who wants to think about the Civil War can't do it without thinking about Robert E. Lee. He did lead the armies of the south, but at the same time we don't want to make a myth about him, that he wasn't fighting for slavery and that he didn't lead an army against our own government."
Tuesday night members of the Dallas NAACP held a meeting to solidify a proposal for the City to take down confederate monuments in the area. But chapter president Arthur Fleming said the organization does condone behavior like the vandalism on the Lee statue.
Originally named Oak Lawn Park, the statue of Lee and replica of his home were erected when the park was renamed in his honor in 1936. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicated the statue of Lee. The Lee Park & Arlington Hall Conservancy maintains the park.
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