A statue of African American tennis legend Arthur Ashe in Virginia was defaced with the words “White Lives Matter,” police said Wednesday.
Photos showed the base of the monument in Richmond tagged with the words, and the initials “WLM,” in white spray paint.
Richmond police said somebody reported the vandalism around 10:15 a.m., and that community members were already cleaning off red paint splattered on the statue itself.
The Arthur Ashe monument was dedicated in 1996 to honor the Richmond native, who in 1963 became the first black player ever selected for the United States Davis Cup team.
His statue is one of six on Monument Avenue in Richmond, with the other five commemorating Virginian Confederate veterans of the Civil War, including Robert E. Lee, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Jefferson Davis, J.E.B. Stuart and Matthew Fontaine Maury.
