A statue commemorating a World War II veteran in North Carolina has been vandalized in what is suspected to have been a case of mistaken identity.
The statue of General William C. Lee, described as "Father of the Airborne," was covered in an accelerant and set on fire in Dunn earlier this month.
Rather than being an orchestrated attack against the military figure, officials at the Major General William C. Lee Airborne Museum, where the statue is based, believed the "jerk punk" vandals set the marble statue on fire believing it was commemorating General Robert E. Lee.
The museum's curator, Mark Johnson, said whoever was responsible must have thought they were targeting a confederate statue as he considered it "unbelievable" that anyone would want to set fire to a statue of the hometown hero.
"I think that's probably it," Johnson told The Daily Record. "So just an alert to people who may be thinking about such things, this is the wrong general."
Speaking to WNCN, Johnson said he has been studying William Lee's life and there is no common connection between the two generals, adding that the Dunn veteran was not racist. "When he was in World War II he's considered the father of the airborne which there were plenty of black paratroopers, a very diverse outfit."
"Complete different generation, complete different war, complete different everything," Johnson told The Daily Record. "Everything is different."
The museum shared pictures of the burnt statue on Facebook on February 15. "The United States owes so much to our military forces and all five military branches are what has kept this country safe and free for all these years," the museum wrote in a caption alongside the pictures.
"The U.S. Army Airborne soldier is highly respected worldwide. Then comes along some jerk punk(s) and he tries to burn the statue of WWII Major General William C. Lee.
"It scorched the statue mostly on the left side. You can see the burn marks in the marble where the jerk placed the remainder of the fuel container on the platform. The cleaning and repair possibilities process will begin soon."
Dunn Police said they are investigating the incident but have not come up with any suspects yet. The museum said nearby surveillance cameras will be reviewed in a bid to catch the perpetrator.
The states of North and South Carolina have frequently ignited debate regarding confederate monuments in the wake of the mass shooting of a black church in Charlestown by white supremacist Dylann Roof.
In August 2018, a bronze statue of Confederate soldier Silent Sam was toppled at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The statue, which has since been completely removed from the grounds, was erected in 1913 to pay tribute to those who died fighting for the Confederacy in the Civil War.
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Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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