KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Since 1911, a statue of famed abolitionist John Brown has stood at 29th and Sewell, the site of the Quindaro town ruins.
Local historian Fred Whitehead made his first trip there in 1976, after reading an article about the monument. Before the infamous raid at Harper's Ferry, Whitehead said Brown lived in Quindaro, a free port and abolitionist community.
"It's just a sort of unknown famous place in Kansas City," he said of the statue, which is believed to be the first one in the world of Brown.
On Sunday morning, Whitehead found the anti-slavery monument had been marked by hatred. Swastikas and racial slurs blanket the statue from head to toe. "Hail Satan" is written on Brown's chin.
"This is a very disturbed person," Whitehead said of the vandalism, which he reported to police.
According to Whitehead this isn't the first time the monument has been vandalized, and it may not be the last. But the fact someone felt strongly enough to do this, he said, is a testament to Brown's legacy.
"I guess in a way it's a tribute to old John Brown, because he still gets in their craw. They still hate him," Whitehead said.
A spokesman for the Unified Government Wyandotte County/KCK said a crew will be there Monday morning to clean the statue.
