title: BOTTOM FEEDERS PAINT “TEAR IT DOWN” on New Orleans’ Joan of Arc Statue
text: HERE WE GO yet another statue of a military hero is reportedly under fire. This figure astride a horse was vandalized with the spray-painted words  Tear It Down .Who was this historical figure? General Lee? Stonewall Jackson? Nathan Bedford Forrest?No, this was a figure who hails from the north.Of France:The phrase  Tear it Down  was hastily sprayed in black paint across the base of the golden Joan of Arc statue on Decatur Street in the French Quarter sometime earlier this week. It has since been removed, with only the vaguest traces of the paint remaining. The  Tear it Down  tag would seem to relate to the debate surrounding the city s ongoing removal of four Confederate monuments. But the statue of Joan of Arc, a 15th-century military leader, martyr and Catholic saint, hasn t been mentioned in the controversy to this point.Amy Kirk Duvoisin, the founder of the annual Joan of Arc parade that ceremonially pauses at the statue on the first day of Carnival season, says she s confused by the vandalism. Surely, people realize she s not related to American history,  she said referring to the French icon.Nah, I wouldn t be so sure.KEEP JOAN OUT OF THIS!According to plaques accompanying the statue, the sculpture of Joan of Arc, who is also known as the Maid of Orleans, was  a gift of the people of France to the citizens of New Orleans  in 1972.On May 1 in Paris, the controversial former right-wing Nationalist Front Party leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, known for his restrictive views on French immigration, led a rally at a duplicate golden statue of Joan of Arc in Paris.The Monumental Task Committee, an organization that describes itself as being devoted to  preserving, restoring and protecting monuments,  is soliciting for donations through its website to restore the Joan of Arc statue.Read more: NOLA 