--- description: The Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol was destroyed less than 24 hours after it was installed title: Ten Commandments Monument Destroyed in Under a Day image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc73bcfe424460431/6988d3adbc6cfc0a2c3e2075/little-rock.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Arkansas](/tag/arkansas/) ## Arkansas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Arkansas’ New Ten Commandments Monument Was Destroyed in Less Than 24 Hours by [Lisa Marie Segarra](/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 28, 2017 2:44 PM CUT  Personnel from the Secretary of State's office inspect the damage to the new Ten Commandments monument outside the state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., on June 28, 201. Personnel from the Secretary of State's office inspect the damage to the new Ten Commandments monument outside the state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., on June 28, 201.Jill Zeman Bleed—AP by [Lisa Marie Segarra](/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 28, 2017 2:44 PM CUT The Ten Commandments monument installed on grounds for the Arkansas State Capitol was destroyed in less than 24 hours. The granite monument, which was privately funded, was installed Tuesday morning, according to the [Associated Press](https://www.apnews.com/cd6d8a4529a246819288a765f74f0e08/Arkansas%27-new-Ten-Commandments-monument-at-Capitol-destroyed "undefined"). Officials said someone drove a vehicle into the monument early Wednesday, causing it to fall to the ground and break into multiple pieces. A spokesman for Secretary of State Chris Powell said Capitol Police took a suspect into custody Wednesday morning. The suspect is identified as Michael Tate Reed in the arrest report, according to AP. A 2015 law allowed the monument to be displayed on Capitol grounds and a state panel gave final approval on the design and location last month. That law, the Ten Commandments Monument Display Act, cited the Supreme Court’s decision to allow a similar Ten Commandments monument to remain at the Texas State Capitol, [NPR reported.](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/27/534558892/ten-commandments-installed-at-arkansas-state-capitol-aclu-plans-lawsuit "undefined") However, the [ACLU](http://time.com/4773882/aclu-texas-travel-alert/ "undefined") was planning a lawsuit to remove the display. “At a time when we do not need any more religious conflict and divisiveness in the world and in this country, it violates the[ First Amendment](http://time.com/4585158/donald-trump-free-speech/ "undefined") promise of religious liberty to all,” ACLU of Arkansas Executive Director Rita Sklar told NPR. “By placing a monument to a particular set of religious beliefs, it appears that the state enforces one particular set of beliefs over others and over no religion.” It is unclear whether the ACLU of Arkansas plans to pursue the lawsuit. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4836477/ten-commandments-monument-arkansas-destroyed/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4836477/ten-commandments-monument-arkansas-destroyed/"},"headline":"Arkansas’ New Ten Commandments Monument Was Destroyed in Less Than 24 Hours","datePublished":"2017-06-28T14:44:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:21:10.123Z","description":"A suspect was arrested Wednesday morning","url":"https://time.com/4836477/ten-commandments-monument-arkansas-destroyed/","keywords":["Arkansas","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc73bcfe424460431/6988d3adbc6cfc0a2c3e2075/little-rock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc73bcfe424460431/6988d3adbc6cfc0a2c3e2075/little-rock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ten Commandments Arkansas","caption":"Ten Commandments Arkansas","creditText":"Jill Zeman Bleed—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/arkansas/","name":"Arkansas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4836477/ten-commandments-monument-arkansas-destroyed/","name":"Arkansas’ New Ten Commandments Monument Was Destroyed in Less Than 24 Hours"}}]}] ```