Abraham Lincoln statue vandalized on Chicago's North Side

CHICAGO (CBS) — An Abraham Lincoln statue was vandalized in the Lincoln Park neighborhood on Monday.

The statue of Lincoln was covered in red spray paint in the 1700 block of North Stockton Drive, near the Chicago History Museum, in an apparent act of protest on Indigenous Peoples Day.

The vandals also sprayed several messages on the statue's pedestal and the wall behind it, including "Lincoln Was An Executioner" and "May All Empires Fall From Turtle Island To Palestine." Turtle Island is a name for North America used by some indigenous people. The reference to Lincoln as an executioner is an apparent reference to his ordering the executions of 38 Dakota men after they were involved in a violent conflict with white settlers in Minnesota.

Police are investigating.

No arrests have been made.

The statue has been vandalized before, as recently as 2022.