Confederate monument vandalized in cemetery

The large monument is located along Confederate Circle in Mount Olivet Cemetery, located between Fesslers and Spence Lane.

According to their website, the remains of seven Confederate generals are buried in or around the circle.

Obscenities, symbols,"Dismantle White Supremacy," and "B.L.M." (Black Lives Matter) were a few of the things

spray painted on the monument.

Navy Veteran Burton Booth is distraught that this happened.

Booth said, "It kind of hurts to see this done to my relatives."

Through his tears, Booth said this is a place he comes to honor his loved ones.

Booth said, "We served with mighty fine people. And I hate to see them just destroy something that's kind of sacred to us."

He said this National Historic Site helps him remember our country's past.

Booth said, "We were all in it for the same reason, fighting for what we thought was right."

Sites like this help him remember how much has changed.

Booth said, "I'm from the old south and times change. So did I."

He said the monument is not a symbol of hate, it's a place to mourn a time when our country was divided.

Booth said, "It goes back to the 1600's, so it's kind of emotional for us."

He found two of his family members. Fortunately, the vandals did not spray paint their graves.

Booth said, "This one's from Alabama, the other one's from Texas. Come to fight for their cause."

He doesn't hate the vandals who did this, but he wants them to know the pain it has caused him.

Booth said, "It would be hard for me to hate them, but to mess up something like this is just unbearable sometimes."

According to Metro Police, the damage will cost about $4,000 to repair.

On Tuesday no one had been caught.

Booth said, "I just hope they find out who did it and get it cleaned up."

The Sons of Confederate Veterans is looking into cleaning up the damage.

Massey said, "Some of the targeting of confederate statues has been on public property. Which is a different matter. This is private property and this is beyond belief that someone would vandalize a cemetery. Painted on this side over here is BLM, Black Lives Mater, over here they say blank the Nazis read between the lines, the confederacy has nothing to do with Nazis..."

Ross Massey said 1,500 confederate soldiers are buried there. The preservation of the monument and cemetery is funded by private donations.

Massey said, "We might fix it. But right now I'd rather people come see it. See what was done."