Quincy woman vandalizes civil war memorial

BOSTON, Mass. (WHDH) -- A woman accused of vandalizing an historic statue near the State House was in court on Wednesday.

Investigators said Rosemine Occean, 38, ran up to the Robert Gould Shaw and 54th Memorial statue, threw paint and then took off. Her mug shot shows yellow paint on her face.

“It’s a disgrace, I just can’t believe that this kind of thinking. It’s just beyond understanding. I don’t understand it at all,” said Lori Boyanoski.

This statue is a memorial many come to see when on tours of Boston.

“African American woman stepped out of her car and she had a can of paint in her hands and she walked around this tree and walked up and threw it right on it,” said Terry Brown, the site manager. “She said that she was protesting and she didn’t think that the statue depicted the statue in its proper format.”

Boyanoski of Pennsylvania was almost in tears talking about it.

“A city where…The cradle of freedom…A city that represents the cradle of freedom to see that this exists it’s just disgusting,” said Boyanoski.

Brown doesn’t understand why someone would do such a thing.

“It’s right across from the state house, this was dedicated in 1897, and when these men marched down to Beacon Hill, marched down Beacon Hill Street, this was a historic moment and for someone to throw paint on it is disturbing, it’s very disappointing,” said Brown.

The site manager said the statue was vandalized a couple weeks ago. Officials are still looking into see if these incidences are possibly related.