A Confederate monument in Knoxville was vandalized.

The monument near the corner of 17th Street and Laurel Avenue in Knoxville appears to have blue paint splattered on it and says, "To the memory of the Confederate soldiers who fell in the assault on Fort Sanders. November 29, 1863."

The vandalism comes after a petition was started asking the city to take down the monument. The petition written by Ben Allen of Knoxville says, "Knoxville must stand up to white supremacy and remove these monuments that have provided spirit in enabling neoconfederates and alt-right to collaborate in terror tactics across the south."

"Remove the inaccurate historical monuments that glorify the slaveocracy of the Confederate States of America and replace them with monuments that are actually factual, or don't replace them at all," Allen told Local 8 News.

"I think what happened here today signifies in no uncertain terms that people in Knoxville are angry about these monuments to the Confederacy and that they want them to be removed immediately," said Allen.

The petition has over 1,000 signatures.

The monument was originally put up by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1914.

The City of Knoxville released a statement Wednesday evening in response to the petition.

"We have read the petition and we definitely understand the concerns of those who have signed it," said Jesse Fox Mayshark, Senior Director of Communications and Government Relations for the City of Knoxville. "To be honest, none of us in the Mayor's Office were even aware of the monument, even though we have probably walked or driven past it thousands of times. We're researching the history and legal details of its ownership."

The statement went on to say that if the monument is located on the public right of way, which it does appear to be, a state law would forbid the city from moving it. That movement would take a request for a waiver from the State Historical Commission.

"We won't make any decisions about this until we have all the information about our options," continued Mayshark. "In the meantime, we certainly encourage members of our community to let us know their thoughts and feelings about the monument, through the petition or by contacting us at communications@knoxvilletn.gov."

Local 8 News reached out to Civil War expert and Associate Professor of History at Maryville College Dr. Aaron Astor to comment on the significance of the vandalism.

"The vandalism of the Fort Sanders UDC monument is troubling for two reasons," said Astor. "First, any defacement of a public memorial is a problem. But second, this particular monument was not really a 'lost cause' veneration monument like some of the others in the news. It was more of a battlefield marker commemorating the men fighting under General James Longstreet at the Battle of Fort Sanders in November 1863. It is a monument to the dead—like a cemetery marker—more than a testament to the Confederate cause, as at other sites."