DOVER, Tenn. (WTVF) — Someone vandalized the Confederate Monument of Fort Donelson with spray paint.
The death of George Floyd sparked outrage over police brutality and racial injustices throughout the nation. It also reignited calls for confederate monuments to be removed across the country.
Dover Police Chief Dennis Honholt took to social media, saying the vandalism "was without a doubt, a cowardly thing to do but it is not cause for people to turn on each other or make baseless accusations."
The statue was erected by the Tennessee Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1933, according to the National Park Service.
It commemorates the Southern soldiers who fought and died at Fort Donelson. The exact location of Confederate graves is unknown.
Chief Honholt's full Facebook post can be read below:
Good afternoon everyone. I try very hard to only post positive information, however, from time to time, as a law enforcement agency, the NOT positive needs to be posted as well. I am sure most people are aware that a statue at Fort Donelson was recently vandalized. Just for clarification, that is on federal property under the authority of the National Park Service (D.O.I.) and is in their venue/jurisdiction. I have offered our assistance in this matter, at their discretion. I would like to caution everyone NOT to jump to conclusions. Hopefully we can all think of examples in the past where emotion has pushed people to make an assumption that was incorrect. True investigation operates on the collection of facts, which is why opinion, hearsay, or conjecture are not used or admissible as evidence. This act has clearly sparked emotion and was without a doubt, a cowardly thing to do but it is not cause for people to turn on each other or make baseless accusations. We are in a wonderful community where people truly care about one another, please don't let this act start dividing us. We ARE stronger than that.
Chief Dennis Honholt
