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'Black Lives Matter' Spray-Painted on Forest Park Confederate Memorial

Eli Duke
/
Flickr

St. Louis police are investigating after vandals targeted a century-old Confederate Memorial, spray-painting the words "Black Lives Matter" on a statue already facing an uncertain future.

Police were called just before 8 a.m. Wednesday after a resident saw the damage on the 32-foot statue in Forest Park. Parks Department workers were cleaning the memorial, and no arrests have been made.

The Confederate flag and other items honoring the Confederacy have come under renewed scrutiny in the week since a white gunman opened fire in a predominantly black Charleston, South Carolina, church, killing nine people.

In April, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay directed a staff member to consider the future of the memorial. A report is expected by the end of summer.

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