RICHMOND, Va. (AP/WUSA9) — Police in Virginia said a police memorial statue was vandalized with red spray paint and the message, “JUSTICE FOR ALTON,” referring to the recent fatal police shooting of a black man in Louisiana.
Richmond Police Deputy Chief Steve Drew said a passer-by reported the vandalism in Byrd Park about 7 a.m. Wednesday, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
A large red X was spray-painted on the torso of the statue of an officer carrying a child. Red paint was also covering the face of the officer. The message was written on the ground by the statue, as an apparent reference to 37-year-old Alton Sterling of Baton Rouge.
Workers tell me they were concerned about this. People had been guarding the statue. @CBS6 pic.twitter.com/ScpnG5WJd8
— Jake Burns (@JakeBurnsCBS6) July 13, 2016
The statue had spent 29 years at Festival Park and “never had a scratch on it,” Jake Burns of WTVR wrote on Twitter. “It’s been here less than 3 weeks.”
A retired officer told Burns the vandalism was “despicable" and "cowardly,” but not representative of police relations in the greater Richmond area.
In recent days, the statue has become a makeshift memorial to the five officers killed in Dallas, with bouquets left at the base and one in the statue's hand.
Drew said the statue is expected to be restored in the next 24 hours.
