KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The new seven-foot-tall statue of Abraham Lincoln in Bronson Park has been defaced, less than 48 hours after it was unveiled Sunday.
The statue was found covered in red spray paint Tuesday morning, and written on the base of the statue was “38 Dakota Warrior,” a statement referring to a case during the U.S. Dakota War of 1862 in which 38 Dakota men were hung at Mankato for their alleged participation in the war.
According to a report from WWMT-TV, Lincoln had reviewed trial transcripts for all 303 men accused of participating in the war and sent 39 names to Henry Sibley, the man responsible for creating a commission that began trying those accused. 38 men were executed December 26, 1862, including two of those who had been mistakenly hanged, according to the Minnesota Historical Society.
After a decade of planning, the bronze statue of Lincoln sculpted by Terre Haute IN artist Bill Wolfe was dedicated and unveiled Sunday, 167 years to the day and hour that Lincoln spoke at the downtown city park in 1856.
The project was spearheaded by the Kalamazoo Abraham Lincoln Institute.
