Local

Confederate Group: Atlanta Statue Must Be Fixed

August 14th, 2017

A statue depicting a Confederate soldier in Piedmont Park in Atlanta is shown vandalized with spray paint Monday, by demonstrators who marched through the city Sunday night to protest the weekend violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

David Goldman / Associated Press

A group that hosts a ceremony every year to re-dedicate an Atlanta monument depicting a Confederate soldier vows that it will be repaired after protesters spray-painted it and broke a chunk from it.

John Green, past commandant of the Old Guard of the Gate City Guard, said Monday it appears his group must now raise money to repair the 105-year-old statue damaged during a Sunday protest after the deadly weekend violence in Virginia.

City officials haven’t commented on any plans for repairs or whether city funds would be used for that.

Green said removing the statue from Piedmont Park, a city park, is not an option.

He said the angel standing over the soldier represents peace, and it was created to help bring the nation back together after the Civil War.

It was dedicated on Oct. 10, 1911, and is called the Peace Monument.

In 2011, for the statue’s centennial, Dr. Tim Crimmins, director of the Center for Neighborhood and Metropolitan Studies at Georgia State University, told the story behind to monument to “City Cafe” host John Lemley.

The statue was defaced, and protesters called for its removal during a weekend demonstration at the park. Hundreds took to the streets in Atlanta to protest racism and the deadly violence linked to a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.