With regards to the current, ongoing defacement, vandalization and destruction of markers, monuments, tributes, and other objects of American historical significance, we hereby petition both our elected and appointed representatives to recognize and enforce the Historic Sites Act of 1935 which establishes a "national policy to preserve for public use historic sites, buildings, and objects of national significance for the inspiration and benefit of the people of the United States."

"History is for human self-knowledge ... the only clue to what man can do is what man has done. The value of history, then, is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is." ~ R. G. Collingwood

The Antiquities Act of 1906 provides for the protection of historic, prehistoric, and scientific features located on federal lands. It authorizes the President to designate as National Monuments historic and natural resources of national significance located on federally owned or controlled land. The Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture and Defense are authorized to issue permits for archaeological investigations on lands under their control to recognized educational and scientific institutions for the purpose of systematically and professionally gathering data of scientific value. See http://www.cr.nps.gov/local-law/anti1906.htm

The Historic Sites Act of 1935 establishes as a national policy to preservation for public use of historic sites, buildings and objects. This act led to the eventual establishment within the National Park Service of the Historic Sites Survey, the Historic American Building Survey (HABS), the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and the National Historic Landmarks Program. See https://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/hsact35.htm

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” ~ George Orwell, 1984