State Lawmakers Discuss Bill Making Vandalism to Historical Markers or Statues a Felony

Friday, September 19th, 2025 -- 9:00 AM

(Anya Van Wagtendonk, Wisconsin Public Radio) Graffiti or vandalism to historical markers, like plaques or statues, would become a felony under a proposal considered by Senate lawmakers on Wednesday.

According to Anna Van Wagtendonk with the Wisconsin Public Radiot a public hearing of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, supporters of the historic property bill said such markers celebrate shared stories and experiences.

“They tell the story of Wisconsin and who we are as a people and, as such, should be protected and honored as records of the past that provide important lessons for the present,” said the bill’s lead author, Sen. André Jacque, R-New Franken.

“A license to damage or destroy these historic public assets through civil unrest is a license to undo the common ties that bind us together as citizens of Wisconsin.”

The proposal comes five years after the racial justice protests of 2020, during which time many monuments to Confederate soldiers, Christopher Columbus, and other figures were targeted with graffiti or torn down by protesters.

In Wisconsin, protesters also toppled a monument to an abolitionist outside the state Capitol in Madison. That same night, they also toppled the Capitol’s “Forward” statue and dragged it down the street.

Following that summer, GOP lawmakers proposed bills to make such targeting of historical property a crime. A similar bill passed the Legislature in 2021, but it was vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers, who said defacing public property above a certain value is already illegal.

“Thus, current law already ensures individuals who engage in this behavior can be held accountable,” Evers wrote in 2022. Current law expressly bans damaging some kinds of properties, but does not specify historical markers or monuments.

On Wednesday, Jacque said the bill is a “common-sense extension of penalties already in place for damage committed against church properties and cemeteries.”

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