Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield’s Illinois Monument vandalized
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As civil war monuments are coming down around the country, our community of South Cobb was not surprised to learn that one in another section of Cobb County was recently vandalized. According to the National Park Service, the largest civil war monument at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park was vandalized. Vandals burned several small American flags at the nearby graves of unknown soldiers, etched a crude symbol of male genitals into the side of the Illinois Monument, and burned a corner of the marble structure.
The incident is under investigation by Cobb Police, NPS police, and an arson investigator. Park staff spent all weekend cleaning and repairing the monument. As of Monday afternoon, no graffiti was visible. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park is a 2,965-acre National Battlefield that preserves a Civil War battleground of the Atlanta Campaign.
The original inhabitants of the land where this monument stands were Cherokee Indians who had been in the Georgia area since before 1000 BC. During the 1830’s, the discovery of gold and the desire to expand the country’s territory resulted in the governments’ forced removal of the Cherokee Indians to Oklahoma in what became known as the Trail of Tears.
Governments in Georgia and in the nation are re-evaluating and removing these controversial monuments and tributes and we urge Cobb government to follow that path. Instead, Chair Lisa Cupid has created honors to the civil war in 2021 with the naming of parks in Mableton after this history of hate.
Cobb residents who believe there is no home for honoring this hateful history should contact Cupid to express their concerns demand to have these tributes removed from our community, and demand that our tax dollars no longer be spent on anything that divides our community.
Chairwoman Lisa Cupid
(770) 528-3305
