LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. — There are dueling online petitions in one Kentucky community regarding a statue of an unidentified Confederate soldier.


What You Need To Know


  • Residents of Lawrenceburg disagree on confederate statue

  • Statue has stood on Anderson County Court House's lawn since 1894

  • There are two circulating petitions, one to keep and one to remove

One asks county leaders to remove the monument, while the other supports keeping it where it is.

The statue of an unnamed Confederate soldier has stood on the Anderson County Court House lawn since 1894.

“I think the area, if I had to put a number on it, is probably two out of three would prefer to keep the statue and, and I'm part of the one third who feels that it's inappropriate where it's at and needs to be relocated," explained Holly Harrison-Hawkins 

Harrison-Hawkins created an online petition that has more than 700 signatures in favor of relocating the statue. Hawkins said in her opinion, "a courthouse is supposed to be an emblem for blind justice, equally welcoming to all who enter," and she believes having the statue in place, does the opposite of that.

“You know right now we have a national debate about different institutions that have systemic racism, number one on that list is criminal justice. So do you have such a divisive artifact sitting on our Anderson County Court House lawn? It's inappropriate and it's unacceptable and it's well over time to change," added Harrison-Hawkins. 

Tara is one of several members of "The Three Percenters” militia group who lives in Anderson County and says while her group is staying neutral on the status of the monument, they have been outside of the Anderson County Court House to independently provide security to keep supporters and opponents peaceful.

“We're here to protect everybody, we're not here to hurt anyone. But if somebody shows up here with a gun and we're not armed, you know, how are we going to save the town? You know we're not here, but to back the law. So if the law gets over ran, we step in, other than that, it's their show," said Tara.

Tuesday, about 20 people spoke in front of members of the Anderson County Fiscal Court to share their opinions on the Confederate statue.

“All the locals here, they all said they don't care that it's here it doesn't bother them it's been here their whole life, you know, and their ancestors so, I've not really seen but two people say anything hatred about it," mentioned Tara.

“It was erected 35 years after the Civil War. People that are defending it and don't even think know what they're defending. They think that it's a monument to history or whatever but like I said, it's a Jim Crow statute," explained business owner Rhonda Davis. "And when people start finally seeing it for what it is, then maybe we'll make some headway, but we've got a lot of really headstrong people."

Anderson County Judge Executive Orbrey Gritton says while he is in favor of hearing feedback on whether or not this statue should be relocated, he says there are no plans to remove it anytime soon.

Spectrum News 1 also reached out to the creator of the Change.org petition that is in favor of keeping the monument where it is in downtown Lawrenceburg. They did not return our messages for comment.