Vandalism of the Stonewall Jackson monument was discovered at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday. (Courtesy of the National Park Service)

Vandalism of the Stonewall Jackson monument was discovered at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday. (Courtesy of the National Park Service)

A monument to Confederate general Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson on the Manassas National Battlefield Park was vandalized with white paint poured on the base and “Dead!!!” spray-painted in gold.

The graffiti appears to have happened overnight and was discovered at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The person or group of people poured “a large quantity of white paint” on three of the four sides of the base, according to National Park Service. Preservation experts have already begun work to remove the paint.

General Thomas J. Jackson received the “Stonewall” nickname at that very battlefield, during the First Battle of Manassas in 1861, according to NPS. The statue was erected in 1940, during the era of Jim Crow and following a spate of memorials to Confederate generals in the first two decades of the 20th century and preceding the slew that went up during the Civil Rights movement.

After deciding to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, which sparked a violent demonstration by white nationalists, the city of Charlottesville also recently voted to remove a statue of Stonewall Jackson from a public park.

As other jurisdictions weigh what to do with monuments to Confederate generals (or in D.C.’s case, tries to convince Congress to take it down), a number of statues have been the target of vandalism.

In August, for example, some painted “f*ck this” on a statue of a Confederate soldier outside the Loudoun County Courthouse in Leesburg, Va. And several days before Baltimore removed its Confederate statues under the cover of darkness, someone thew red paint at a monument in Bolton Hill.

It is National Park Service policy not to remove any monument or memorial from federal land unless specifically directed by Congress “even when they are deemed inaccurate or incompatible with prevailing present-day values,” according to a NPS spokesman. “A key aspect of their historical interest is that they reflect the knowledge, attitudes, and tastes of the people who designed and placed them. Unless directed by legislation, it is the policy of the National Park Service that these works and their inscriptions will not be altered, relocated, obscured, or removed.”

NPS, which is experienced in removing an array of graffiti and vandalism, says it is still assessing the best way to remove any remaining paint, oils, or other damage to the Stonewall Jackson statue.

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