The white supremacist David Duke cited the monument as a symbol of "white pride" and, in 2004, tried to stage a rally by it. The monument was frequently vandalized as the target of anti-racist and anti-Nazi graffiti. It was one of three monuments vandalized in March 2012 by a group that noted the divisive nature of a monument favoring a racist past. The graffiti referenced the New Orleans Police Department killings of Justin Sipp and Wendell Allen as well as the killing of Trayvon Martin. A local businessman led his staff in cleaning up the monuments; he said that after Hurricane Katrina, residents needed to build the city together.Katy Reckdahl, "3 defaced New Orleans monuments are cleaned by volunteers", The Times-Picayune, March 2012
