A smear runs across the sign at Jefferson Davis Park outside of Ridgefield April 3. The park has been vandalized several times since August.
The Jefferson Davis memorial near Ridgefield on the side of Interstate 5 has been hit by vandalism once again as a sign at the memorial now bares a dark smear across its face.
The memorial site dedicated in honor of the only president of the Confederacy has been vandalized a total of four times since August of last year.
National attention to Confederate monuments picked up following demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12 of last year when activist Heather Heyer was killed while protesting against white nationalist groups, including neo-Nazis and Klu Klux Klan members.
A car rammed into a crowd of protesters leaving Heyer dead.
In the first defacement, two monuments on-site, dedicated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in the 1930s, were covered in red and black substances. The stones were originally used as highway markers for the Jefferson Davis Highway. A Portland anti-fascist group took credit for that instance.
Last month flags associated with the Confederacy had been cut down and have yet to be replaced.
The park is maintained by the Sons of Confederate Veterans Pacific Northwest Division. When reached by The Reflector, division commander John Sigmon noted that damage had also appeared to have been done to the granite mile-markers at the site.
Sigmon declined to comment on further plans the organization has with the monument, which is on private land and outside city limits.
In October the memorial was removed from Clark County’s historic registry following public outcry of its inclusion.
