BENTONVILLE (KFSM) — A cannonball has been stolen from the feet of the Confederate soldier statue at the Bentonville square, according to the county judge’s office.
The cannonball was taken sometime Tuesday (Sept. 5), according to Bentonville police. The department has taken a theft report and investigators are looking into possible surveillance footage from businesses on the square. The judge’s office estimates the cannonball weighs about 30 pounds.
The statue has been at the center of some controversy in recent months after dueling petitions began circulating regarding its location on the square.
The statue was erected in 1905 by a local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. In 1996, Benton County Judge Bruce Rutherford ordered Bentonville to take over maintaining the square, including the monument.
A plaque on the statue dedicates the monument “to the southern soldiers” and James H. Berry, a civil war officer who later became the only Arkansas governor from Benton County. Berry also served as a legislator and an attorney.
