The National Park Service (NPS) announced Monday it will reinstall and restore a statue of Confederate General Albert Pike, which was vandalized and toppled by rioters in 2020.
“The restoration aligns with federal responsibilities under historic preservation law as well as recent executive orders to beautify the nation’s capital and re-install pre-existing statues,” the NPS said in a statement.
“Originally authorized by Congress in 1898 and dedicated in 1901, the statue honors Pike’s leadership in Freemasonry, including his 32 years as Sovereign Grand Commander of the Ancient Rite of Scottish Freemasonry,” the statement continued. “The statue has been in secure storage since its removal and is currently undergoing restoration by the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center.”
The NPS said this action supports President Donald Trump’s executive orders, “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful” and “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” (RELATED: Socialist Candidate’s Resurfaced Post Showing Him Flipping Off Columbus Statue Sparks Outrage)
The NPS is aiming to complete the restoration by October 2025, according to the statement.
Rioters toppled the statue near Washington, D.C.’s, police headquarters using ropes, and they proceeded to douse the statue with lighter fluid and set it on fire, according to NBC4 Washington.
TOPSHOT – A young boy stands near the statue of Confederate general Albert Pike after it was toppled by protesters at Judiciary square in Washington, DC on late June 19, 2020. – Protesters have toppled the only statue of a Confederate general in the US capital, images broadcast by US media show. (Photo by ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)
President Trump asked that it be reinstalled less than a week later during his first term, the outlet reported.
Local officials have attempted to remove the statue through legislation. Democratic D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton reintroduced a bill to permanently remove the statue of Pike in February 2021.
More than 160 Confederate symbols were removed from public spaces in 2020, the New York Times reported, citing the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
Trump has also targeted the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order to remove “improper ideology” from its museums and parks. He further denounced radical ideologies in an executive order titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation” to end “gender-affirming care” for minors.
