It took 140 years for Gloucester County to acknowledge its Medal of Honor winner, James Daniel Gardner. As Mr. Gardner fought on the Union side and was a black man, it may be possible to see why the county ignored his heroism all through the years of Reconstruction, Jim Crow and Massive Resistance.

However, the right thing was finally done and a decade ago, a monument with his photograph was placed on Gloucester Court Green, with appropriate ceremonies.

Now his photograph has disappeared from the monument—and, according to the county, not for the first time. The sheriff’s office said it had no report of this defacement, and the county is working on a repair, so … no big deal?

It’s a sad fact that public monuments are easy targets for vandals. Spray paint is the usual medium, and it has been used liberally in years past on the Mathews Confederate monument, the sides of both public and private buildings (such a nice, broad surface) and other tempting places.

But, public monuments are there for the public to enjoy, not to deface. It would have been nice for the sheriff’s office to be told about the disappearance of Mr. Gardner’s photograph, and for the public to be informed.

We hope a permanent fix will put the image back securely, and perhaps another street light or so, or a security camera, will deter anyone tempted to remove it. 

It took 140 years for the county to put up an appropriate monument, and 10 years for some sneaky hand to chisel away the face of history … twice. One time was too many.