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Nose of General Mouton statue in Lafayette damaged

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Posted at 3:35 PM, Jan 21, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-21 23:29:09-05

The General Alfred Mouton statue in Lafayette has received some damage.

This week, several media reports mentioned the damage which appears isolated to the statue's face.

Most noticeably, the nose of Mouton has mostly been removed. People have also noticed damage to the 'MOUTON' letters. How the damage occurred is still unknown. People downtown believe the damage was intentional.

"It looks like someone knocked it off, clean off," Matthew Holland said.

Others say it may have happened more naturally.

"It may have just fell off because the weather," commented Leah Brown. "It's pretty dirty, so I don't know if someone would have climbed up there."

The Lafayette Police Department tells KATC that as of Thursday morning they were not looking into the matter because there is no official complaint or report on the damage.

"I think that would be a waste of time and energy. If it's going to come down, who cares where the nose went?" added Holland.

According to a spokesperson, police were only made aware of the damage on Tuesday evening.

The statue of Alfred Mouton, which sits in front of the old Lafayette City Hall, is owned by Lafayette Consolidated Government. KATC has reached out to LCG for a comment on the damage or if they plan to file a complaint with police. Jamie Angelle, LCG Chief Communications Officer, declined to comment.

During the summer, the Lafayette City Council supported the Guillory administration's effort to have the statue moved to a different location. An injunction prevents that, but LCG continues to sue for the injunction to be lifted.

"I think it needs to come down. I don't really care what they do with it after. Being from here and knowing what it stands for, that's not my legacy, and that's not the Lafayette legacy," said Holland.

Several of the court dates have been pushed back for different reasons, however the Clerk of Court confirmed on Thursday all parties will meet in court on March 15th.

Read more about the delays in the lawsuit here.

Read more about the Guillory Administration's effort to move the statue here.

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