PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) — A World War I Doughboy memorial in Petersburg was toppled to the ground sometime between the late night hours on Saturday and the early hours on Sunday.
The statue — designed to honor those that that died in World War I — is located in a small grass lawn at the intersection of North Boulevard and South Sycamore Street.
The toppled statue can be seen on the ground, with its stone plaque displaced and broken diagonally through the engraving of an American flag.
In an announcement by the Petersburg Police Department at around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 24, police were on the scene of a shooting at the location of the statue. Sycamore Street and other nearby streets were closed overnight during the investigation.
Police have not yet confirmed as to whether or not the fallen statue and shooting are related.
This is not the first time the statue has toppled to the ground, though. In July of 2020, an SUV crashed into the monument, sending it crashing to the ground.
When police arrived on the scene for the report of a crash, they found the unoccupied SUV that had hit the monument. Afterward, the City of Petersburg arranged for a crane to move the monument back into an upright position.
This is a developing story. Stay with 8News for updates.
