A statue of Robert E. Lee at Duke University Chapel has been defaced.
The damage to the face of the stone statue, which is one of ten adorning the entrance to the private university’s chapel in Durham, North Carolina, was discovered early Thursday.
Parts of the the statue’s face, including the entire nose, appeared to have been chipped off, though officials declined to speculate on how the damage was inflicted.
The vandalism comes less than a week after protesters, reacting to the violent events in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend, toppled and damaged a monument to Confederate soldiers in downtown Durham, just a few miles from the Duke campus.
Damage to the face of a stone statue of Robert E. Lee was discovered early Thursday at the entrance to Duke Chapel in Durham, North Carolina
Parts of the the statue’s face, including the entire nose, appeared to have been chipped off, though officials declined to speculate on how the damage was inflicted
A group of Duke University Divinity School students participate in a prayer vigil in front of Duke Chapel on Thursday, after the statue was found vandalized
Eight people face charges in that incident on Monday.
Unlike the downtown Durham monument, which is by a city building, the Lee figure at Duke Chapel is on private property.
‘Duke Chapel is a place of sanctuary and refuge that belongs to every member of the Duke community,’ Duke President Vincent E. Price said in a statement.
Price said that for vandals to ‘to take matters into their own hands and vandalize a house of worship’ undermined the rights of university students and employees ‘to participate fully in university life’.
‘Each of us deserves a voice in determining how to address the questions raised by the statues of Robert E. Lee and others, and confront the darker moments in our nation’s history,’ Price said.
The Lee figure at Duke Chapel is on private property, unlike the Confederate soldiers monument that was toppled on Monday in downtown Durham, a few miles from the campus
Campus officials are investigating security footage from the Chapel, and said they had increased patrols around the structure.
Duke Chapel is an ornate Gothic local landmark, and the ten statues at the entrance were carved in the late 1920s and 1930s.
None of the statues are labeled or identified anywhere in the Chapel, but the one defaced is widely known to depict Lee.
It has caused controversy on campus from its unveiling, when Duke officials objected that it looked nothing like the popular conception of the Confederate general.
‘I do not believe anybody will ever take it to be Lee,’ Duke Endowment trustee William R. Perkins wrote in a 1932 letter.
There was also consternation that the initials ‘US’ had been mistakenly carved in Lee’s belt buckle, and attempts were made to scratch them out.
But the initials are still faintly visible, and make a point of interest for local school tours of the Chapel.