Confederate graves vandalized in Raleigh

RALEIGH -- Officials say vandals spray-painted graffiti on nine monuments inside a section of Raleigh's Historic Oakwood Cemetery where numerous Confederate Army officers are buried.

Multiple media outlets report that the vandals mostly damaged the graves of high-ranking Confederate officers, but also defaced the stone of North Carolina Gov. Charles Aycock, whose racial views in the early 1900s have found increasing criticism.

Cemetery Executive Director Robin Simonton said in a news release that the vandals caused roughly $20,000 in damage on Wednesday night by spray-painting words such as "slavery," ''not heroes" and "white supremacist" on the markers.

Simonton says tarps are now covering the damaged headstones.

Though private, Oakwood Cemetery is open to the public and can be accessed by pedestrians even when the front gate is locked.