From the Richmond Commercial Bulletin, 8/18/1865, p. 3, c. 1

VANDALISM. – We noticed on yesterday that the Clay Statue has again become the target of a parcel of unwhipt young rascals, for whose benefit and that of others of their ilk, we trust a House of Correction may soon be instituted, although we think a few lessons at the whipping-post would be of more service. The object of these juvenile marksmen seems to have been to knock off the nose of the statue, but their marksmanship seems to have been as bad as their morals, for they succeeded only in scarring the face in several places and breaking off a portion of the shirt collar.

How any American, any Virginia youth, could be so ignorant, so degraded, as to thus deface the statue of the great orator, almost passes comprehension, but since such beings do exist, we trust the Governor, or some one having the proper authority, will take active measures to prevent a repetition of such vandalism.

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