Enchantment State News

A controversial war monument was recently torn down in Santa Fe, New Mexico, sparking a lot of outrage from GOP members toward Democrats for not immediately condemning the destruction.

The monument was built representing union worker soldiers fighting in the civil war in the year 1868. One portion of the monument dedicates the union workers as "heroes" and at one point in time referred to Native Americans as "savages," KOB4 reported.

House Democrats released a statement following the destruction of the monument saying they were "condoning violence," only to later correct it to "condemning violence."

“For seven months we have watched (the) destruction of public property by unruly mobs, among other acts of violence,” said House Republican Whip Rod Montoya, according to the New Mexico House GOP website. “For those who have quietly emboldened this chaos and fed into the disunity taking place, to all of a sudden condemn the very thing their silence has created is astonishing. Condemning what took place in the Santa Fe plaza and in the next sentence lecturing everyone on why it happened is completely disingenuous and uncredible."

The Santa Fe mayor also released a video condemning the violence.

"I want to condemn—in the strongest possible terms—the violence that broke out on the plaza today that led to the wanton destruction of the obelisk," Mayor Alan Webber said. "That is not how we do things in Santa Fe. It is not only a violation of the law, it is a violation of the ties between people in our community. There is no place in Santa Fe for people taking the law into their own hands, and there is no place for people, destroying historic monuments on their own," KOB4 reported.

According to police, two arrests were made in connection to the destruction of the Santa Fe historic monument.