UPDATE: Love contacted the News-Leader early Wednesday to clarify that the post is not deleted as he thought; he had not been able to access it due to poor internet connectivity. The story now reflects this and has been corrected to include the proper spelling of Osceola.

A Missouri state lawmaker posted on Facebook on Wednesday that the person responsible for vandalizing a Confederate statue should be hanged.

"This is totally against the law," said Rep. Warren Love, R-Osceola. "I hope they are found & hung from a tall tree with a long rope."

Multiple pictures of Love's post, including two sent to a News-Leader reporter, indicate the post was made early Wednesday afternoon and has remained online.

Love was commenting on the news that a Confederate memorial in the Springfield National Cemetery was vandalized this week.

Among those to immediately criticize Love's remark was Stephen Webber, chair of the Missouri Democratic Party.

"This is a call for lynching by a sitting State Representative," Webber said. "Calls for political violence are unacceptable. He needs to resign."

Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, said Love's post was "way over the line."

"Vandalizing property is wrong, but hoping for people to be hung/lynched over it??" Dogan wrote on Twitter. "Way over the line!!"

And Rep. Bruce Franks Jr., D-St. Louis, reacted with surprise: "Damn Warren that's how you feel?"

In February, Love referred to former President Abraham Lincoln as the "greatest tyrant and despot in American history" in another Facebook post. In January, Love made a reference to "the black Negro" during a hearing on prevailing wage legislation.

A statement from a high-ranking Missouri Democrat noted the recency of Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal's Facebook remark in which she said "I hope Trump is assassinated!"

"Such statements are never acceptable and, as with the earlier, the responsible lawmaker has forfeited the right to hold office," said Rep. Gail McCann Beatty, D-Kansas City. "Monuments to the Confederacy are monuments to white supremacy; there is no separating the two. While vandalism is a crime, its punishment is not extra-judicial murder."

"In calling for the lynching of those who vandalized a Confederate statute in Springfield, state rep. Warren Love invoked a form of political violence used throughout the South to keep African-Americans subjugated for generations following the fall of the Confederacy, and for that he must resign."

Love apologizes for his "cowboyism"

After this article published online, Love called the News-Leader and acknowledged he had "stirred up a hornet's nest" with he called a "cowboyism" and a "stupid commen."

Love said Tuesday he thought the post was deleted but clarified Wednesday it was still up; he had not been able to access it due to poor internet connectivity.

Love said he understood why people might be upset that he made a lynching remark about a Confederate monument.

"Basically, if I'd had said it in a politically correct way, I would have stated, you know, for that type of an infraction or desecration, I would like to see them prosecuted to the full extent of the law," Love said. "That's what I should have said. But due to my stupid comment, I didn't."

Love said he was reminded of desecration in a rural cemetery in his district and characterized this kind of behavior as "plumb ornery."

"I used to turn s---houses over when I was a kid a little bit with some ornery boys," Love said, "but tearing up a cemetery to honor the dead or a monument to honor someone is just terrible, terrible. That's kind of my feelings about it."

Love reminded the News-Leader he had filed legislation to protect "objects of remembrance" in the past.

And as he had ancestors serve in both the Union and the Confederacy during the Civil War, Love said he was a member of both the Sons of Union Veterans and Sons of Confederate Veterans.

"Our purpose is to help protect the reputation and the integrity of our ancestors," he said.

He added that his initial statement — "I hope they are found & hung from a tall tree with a long rope" — was not meant literally.

Confederate monument vandalized at Springfield National Cemetery

"I do not believe that," he said. "That was a stupid statement."

He added he hoped his remark would not be "blown out of proportion."

"There'll be people who want to get me out of the legislature for some stupid-ass remark I made," he acknowledged, adding he had no plans to resign.

Love provided additional statements he said he made to his Facebook page, saying "anyone regardless of Age, Gender, or Race that would desecrate or vandalize an Object of Remembrance in a Cemetery is a low life that has no respect for Memorials that have been placed by loved ones or people that want to honor an individual" and adding he thought this kind of vandalism should be a felony offense."

"It appears that several people have interpreted a post I made about a penalty for Vandalizing an Object of Remembrance in a National Veterans Cemetery to be rather harsh and inciting violence," Love said in a separate statement. "I did not mean it that way and was only using (an) old Cowboy Statement that is a western custom of a penalty for thieves that steal Cattle & Horses.

"To all who this post offended I am very sorry. However I do believe it is very serious when a Cemetery or Object of remembrance is desecrated or vandalized and the penalty needs to be increased from a misdemeanor to a felony."

Read more:

Are Missouri lawmakers on parallel paths to expulsion after violent Facebook posts?

Missouri Democratic lawmaker says no resignation despite backlash from Trump assassination post