Duval County

Andrew Jackson statue in downtown Jacksonville vandalized

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The statue of Andrew Jackson, the politician whom Jacksonville was named for, was found to be vandalized in downtown Jacksonville on Monday afternoon.

Action News Jax’s Bridgette Matter took photos of the statue, which appears to have splotches of red paint on the wording on the base of the statue and splotches of paint on Jackson.

The statue sits at the end of Laura Street near Independent Drive, right in front of where The Jacksonville Landing used to be.

On Monday evening, Matter spotted a crew pressure washing the paint off of the statue.

Jackson also has a school named after him in Jacksonville -- Andrew Jackson High School of Advanced Technology on North Main Street.

Jackson was Florida’s first governor under the United States flag in 1821 and served as the seventh president of the U.S. from 1829 to 1837.