SOMEONE TORE DOWN A UNION ARMY STATUE IN NEW YORK; WHY?

Early Thursday, the police in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., found a cast iron and zinc statue torn down from its stone pedestal in Congress Park and scattered in pieces on the grass.

The statue is one of dozens that have been torn down across the United States in recent weeks amid widespread protests against racism and police brutality. Many of those toppled have been monuments to Confederate soldiers.

But the statue that stood in Congress Park was dedicated to volunteers who fought for the Union during the Civil War. In the days since it was destroyed, residents of Saratoga Springs, a mostly white college town about 30 miles north of Albany, have been calling the mayor’s office and posting on social media to express outrage and disappointment.

“The statue was memorializing those who fought against the Confederacy and against slavery, so I think Saratogans were very proud that we had that in our park,” said David Snyder, executive assistant to Meg Kelly, the mayor of Saratoga Springs.

The police are still investigating the episode and have yet to publicly identify any suspects.

“We’re very confused,” Snyder said. “Was this in any way tied to a Black Lives Matter protest in which they thought it was a Confederate statue that needed to come down? Was it a reactionary or pro-confederate group that wanted a Union statue to come down? Or was it random?”

Lexis Figuereo, 33, a resident of Saratoga Springs and an organizer with All of Us, a group associated with the Black Lives Matter movement, said the activists he knew had nothing to do with the toppling of the monument.

“If anything, something like this would be done by somebody who had no idea what they were doing,” he said. “Or a person who was racist, because this was a Union statue.”

Michael Veitch, the business manager for the city’s Department of Public Works, said Saratoga Springs officials were working to repair or replace the Union memorial in Congress Park.

“This is a great caring community that loves its public spaces, so a number of individuals and organizations have already reached out to make donations in support of the work necessary to rectify the vandalism,” he said.