A statue of Thomas Jefferson was vandalized on Sunday at the University of Virginia, which Jefferson founded.
The Daily Progress reports that police received a report around 3:20 a.m. ET on Sunday about the Jefferson statue on the north side of the UVa Rotunda being vandalized. Police reportedly would not confirm the incident until Thursday.
An image posted by Daily Progress staff writer Dean Seal shows the Jefferson statue was splashed with red paint:
Finally confirmed: @UVA police are investigating vandalism of Jefferson Statue at Rotunda on Sat night/Sun am. It's since been cleaned up. pic.twitter.com/lI6OEBDM5r
— Dean Seal (@JDeanSeal) August 24, 2017
According to the Daily Progress, workers were seen cleaning up the vandalism on Sunday morning.
Following the incident, the Black Student Alliance at UVA issued a list of demands on Monday that claims, “The statue of Jefferson serves as an emblem of white supremacy.” The demands claim the statue should be “re-contextualized” with a plaque to mention that “white supremacy.”
Another demand made by the Black Student Alliance is to require all students to take a course about white supremacy and specifically how it relates to Jefferson.
The Daily Progress reports the UVA student council endorsed the group’s demands.
The vandalism at UVA comes after President Trump was mocked for his comments asking whether statues of Jefferson and Washington would be removed because of their pasts as slave owners.
In February, a statue of Jefferson at the College of William & Mary was defaced with red paint and the words "slave owner."
Thank you for supporting MRCTV! As a tax-deductible, charitable organization, we rely on the support of our readers to keep us running! Keep MRCTV going with your gift here!