(Headline USA) Police in New Mexico‘s capital city on Friday were investigating the vandalism and partial destruction of a public monument to a 19th century frontiersman and U.S. soldier.
The monument to Christopher “Kit” Carson has been encircled by a plywood barrier for its own protection since 2020, when Santa Fe was swept by the anti-American protests following the overdose death of George Floyd.
The monument’s upper spire was toppled Thursday evening.
Photos showed an abandoned pickup truck and cable that may have been used to inflict the damage.
Last year, radical activists covered the statute with red paint.
Activists also toppled a monument on Santa Fe’s central square to U.S. soldiers who fought for the Union in the Civil War in 2020.
Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber issued a statement that described the latest damage to the monument as a “cowardly act.”
“I want those who did this to be caught and held accountable,” the mayor said. “There is no place for this kind of criminal conduct in our community. We should all condemn it.”
The U.S. attorney’s office confirmed federal jurisdiction over the monument, located outside a U.S. courthouse in downtown Santa Fe.
The U.S. Marshals Service, which protects federal courts, could not immediately be reached Friday.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
