Graffiti mars SE Mo. Civil War monument

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) - Officials in Cape Girardeau County estimate they'll spend up to $600 to have graffiti removed from an 80-year-old Civil War monument.

The Southeast Missourian reports (http://bit.ly/rkMb3V) the messages spray-painted on both sides of the monument express pro-Union sentiments. The graffiti was reported to police Tuesday morning.

The nearly 15-foot-tall stone monument stands on the grounds of a Cape Girardeau Courthouse. It was put up in 1931 by United Daughters of the Confederacy to commemorate the sole confederate unit gathered from the southeastern Missouri city during the Civil War.

A crew from Liley Monuments in Marble Hill began working Tuesday to remove the graffiti with industrial solvent and paint thinner.

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Information from: Southeast Missourian, http://www.semissourian.com