Fredericksburg’s Mary Washington Monument was vandalized over the weekend, according to an email from Washington Heritage Museums Executive Director Anne Darron.
The obelisk marking the gravesite of Mary Washington located on the 1500 block of Monument Avenue was discovered with two acts of graffiti on Sunday morning, including “ANTIFA” and an anarchy symbol on two of its sides. Darron says that the damage likely occurred on Saturday night.
“It’s a heartbreaking incident, especially considering how much time and care WHM has put into revitalizing the property,” Darron wrote. She says that the organization had recently completed a renovation of the site’s Caretaker Lodge and that more improvements for accessibility and education were slated to be added.
The Fredericskburg Police Department is actively investigating the incident, Darron says. To the best of her knowledge, the suspects did not force entry through the monument’s side gate.
The Mary Washington Monument is located just blocks from the Fredericksburg Cemetery, which was suffered a number of damaged gravestones in an act of vandalism in the late spring. That resulted in thousands of dollars in damages. At this time that case remains unsolved.
