Obelisk in Plaza vandalized
Part of inscription also broken off; city considering putting barrier around monument
The city is considering erecting a barrier around a 19th-century obelisk in the middle of the Santa Fe Plaza after a vandal or vandals defaced the controversial war monument.
Mayor Alan Webber said Monday he was “very disappointed and saddened” by the damage to the obelisk, which was spray-painted with the word “racist” on top and with “Tewa land” and “end the genocide” at the base. In addition, a portion of the most contentious inscription, which
dedicates part of the 153-year-old memorial to “heroes” with died in battle with “savage Indians,” was broken off.
“I think it’s unfortunate that we’ve seen people vandalize any monument or statue, and we’re going to try to move forward to protect that object and others from anything being done to it,” Webber said during a virtual news conference.
Concern about vandalism was one reason why the city quickly removed a statue of Spanish conquistador Don Diego de Vargas from Cathedral Park last week and got it “safely warehoused” ahead of a planned protest, he added.
Webber said in a statement issued later Monday, “Vandalism like this only serves to incite anger and division. What we need instead is an honest conversation about our past and a hopeful conversation about our future.”
The vandalism of the obelisk, sometimes called the Soldiers Monument initially dedicated to Union soldiers, came after Webber called for its removal, along with the de Vargas statue and another obelisk downtown dedicated to Christopher “Kit” Carson, following Indigenous activists’ demands they be taken down.
The decision has met with some opposition.
“For those who ask why I called for these monuments to be removed, here’s my thinking,” Webber said in his statement. “We are part of a national moment and a national movement . ... By moving the monuments, we start an honest dialog with each other. We also avoid the tragic violence that has taken place in other parts of the country around these objects, including as near to us as Albuquerque. No monument is worth one human life.”
The mayor also has said he would restart a commission to review statues and monuments throughout the city to help determine whether they should remain on public property.
The obelisk in Carson’s honor, located in front of the federal courthouse near City Hall, was tagged with graffiti last week, prompting the construction of a plywood fence around the monument.
“We’re looking into that same kind of exterior protection” for the obelisk on the Plaza, Webber said.
The Plaza obelisk was damaged even before vandals got to it early Monday morning.
A contractor hired by the state tried unsuccessfully to remove the massive monument last week, marring the historic structure before the work was called off.
The damage to the obelisks and the removal of the de Vargas statue have not only stoked divisions in the community but also have raised questions about legal authority.
The failed attempt to remove all or portions of the Plaza obelisk, which occurred after midnight Wednesday, might have violated federal law because the war monument is part of the Santa Fe Plaza, a registered historic site, an archaeologist said last week.
“A 150-year-old public monument on the register cannot be modified, removed or destroyed, period,” Thomas King, a Santa Fe resident and archaeologist, said in an email. “Its integrity has already been diminished by the removal of its capstone.”
The office of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham sent the crew after offering Webber assistance.
“She told me that she was in full support of my decision [to call for the removal of the three controversial monuments] and that if [the state] could participate in a constructive way with the safe removal of the obelisk so that it was safely stored and taken care of, she would be happy to participate,” Webber recalled Monday.
The governor’s communication’s director, Tripp Stelnicki, said last week that public safety was the top priority. He expressed concerns about a possible attempt to topple the structure during the protest planned Thursday, which instead became a celebratory rally after Webber called for the removal of the monuments.
Stelnicki said the state contractor removed only the tip of the obelisk, which he called “very unsteady.”
“That would’ve toppled off and crushed somebody’s skull — no question,” he said. “The rest of it is stable.”
King scoffed at the safety concerns, saying the metal fence around the war monument keeps people back far enough to be out of danger.
Daniel Zillmann, a spokesman for the state Department of Cultural Affairs, said the Plaza, not the war monument, is a national historic landmark and is listed on several registries.
That makes the Plaza subject to regulations that allow emergency actions for anything that threatens property or life, Zillmann said, such as removing the monument’s capstone.
“The actions taken were within the context of such threats,” Zillmann said.
The Plaza’s status does not guarantee the monument’s permanent placement or protection, he added.
However, removing or altering the monument could affect the historic Plaza, so any such project must be reviewed by the state Historic Preservation Division, Zillmann said.
Scott Wyland of The New Mexican contributed to this report.