A monument honoring a regiment that fought for the Union during the Civil War was destroyed this week in New York state.
Saratoga Springs Police Department Lt. Robert Jillson told The Epoch Times that the statue was found on the ground around 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
The investigation into the situation is still active.
“Nothing new has come up since yesterday, so we’re still exploring any physical evidence, video, seeing if anybody calls with information. Typical of any investigation,” Jillson said.
According to a press release from the city, the statue honors New York’s 77th Regiment, which fought in the Army of the Potomac from 1861 to 1865.
Photographs from the scene showed the statue in over a dozen pieces on the grass next to the pedestal it was on.
The statue, erected in 1875, was located in Congress Park.
The toppling was the second act of vandalism in recent days; people spray-painted various objects, including benches, in the park over the weekend.
“The city of Saratoga Springs condemns these recent acts of vandalism in the strongest possible terms and will hold the parties responsible to the fulliest extent of the law,” Robin Dalton, the city’s public safety commissioner, said in a statement. “The Department of Public Works and Department of Public Safety will be taking additional measures to secure Congress Park from these unprecedented acts of violence.”
James Parillo of the Saratoga Springs History Museum and Samantha Bosshart of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation said in a statement that they were “sad and disappointed” to learn of the toppling.
The monument was put up “to honor the men of the 77th who lost their lives fighting for the Union Army,” they said, urging people to contact the police with information about the vandals.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) added in a statement: “Whoever this criminal is should be prosecuted to the fullest extent. The desecration of a Union Army veteran memorial is inexcusable and every elected official needs to speak out against this sick destruction.”
