Confederate statue in Tennessee vandalized with pink paint

A statue of Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest located near a Tennessee interstate was painted pink Tuesday.

The Tennessean reported that the statue, which depicts Forrest riding a horse, was vandalized either late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

PHOTOS: Nathan Bedford Forrest statue along I-65 in Nashville vandalized: https://t.co/7nHbALpfQa pic.twitter.com/Pr0RqivfC5

— FoxNashville (@FOXNashville) December 27, 2017

{mosads}The statue is located on private property along Interstate 65 near Nashville. The owner, Bill Dorris, told The Tennessean that the statue has been vandalized before, including being “shot at six times.”

He said he plans to leave the paint on the statue.

The status of statues of Confederate figures became a subject of national discussion following a white supremacist rally in August in Charlottesville, Va., that turned violent. The rally was planned in protest to the possible removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

A man at the rally drove his car through a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one woman. In the aftermath, President Trump argued there was blame on “both sides” and lamented the removal of Confederate statues.