Fate of Civil War statue yet to be decided

There it was Monday morning, hardly believable to the eyes.

The Civil War soldier that has watched over Themis Street in Cape Girardeau with his stern gaze for 92 years was in pieces on various platforms of the fountain that supported him.

Apparently, a tree limb snapped and scored a direct hit on the soldier. Only the boots remain.

The statue, which depicted a Union infantry soldier standing guard with his musket, was placed in the Common Pleas Courthouse park area by the Women's Relief Corps, an auxiliary to a Civil War veterans group. It was dedicated on Memorial Day in 1911, 50 years after the start of the Civil War.

It didn't take long for word to spread throughout the city that the statue had been severely damaged.

Curious onlookers walked and drove by the courthouse to see the broken statue that for so long has been a part of downtown Cape Girardeau's scenery.

County crews acted quickly to clean up the mess and the offending limb.

Already there is talk about what person or group will take on recasting the statue. It's certainly worth restoring a piece of the city's historical landscape.