The statue of Confederate Gen. Alfred Mouton, which stands in downtown Lafayette, has been damaged.

A portion of the nose on the statue is missing while there's also damage to another part of the face.

The Lafayette Police Department is looking into the incident.

Like many confederate statues across the South, there have been many proponents of having the Gen. Mouton statue removed.

Leading that front in Acadiana is a group called Move the Mindset. Fred Prejean, president of the group, says he wants the statue to go into a museum for educational purposes.

"I'm surprised that someone decided to vandalize the statue because that's not what we had in mind to happen," Prejean told KLFY.

The statue was paid for in 1922 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and donated to the city of Lafayette, Louisiana.  They say they don't want it moved, according to court documents.

The group is currently in civil court claiming the city doesn't have the rights to remove the statue.

KLFY reports that Judge David Smith's office has declined to comment as to why the civil matter has been postponed five times. However, the court hearing has previously been pushed back due to COVID-19.

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