RALEIGH, (SGRToday.com) -- Following news that the Monument to North Carolina Women of the Confederacy had been spray-painted overnight Monday, Gov. Pat McCrory condemned the vandalism.

“Vandalism and the destruction of property is not free speech,” Governor McCrory said in a statement. “One does not change the hearts and minds of others by damaging public monuments or private property.”
 
The Capitol Police, the State Bureau of Investigation and the Raleigh Police Department are investigating the incident.  
 
The Women of the Confederacy statue was a gift to the state of North Carolina by Confederate veteran Colonel Ashley Horne and was dedicated on June 10, 1914.