Statue defaced as protests over Confederate past rise

Fresh debate has roiled the US since violence in Charlottesville

WASHINGTON - A statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee was defaced at North Carolina's Duke University and there were more arrests on Thursday over the toppling of a similar statue as communities in the US South faced a contentious debate over such divisive monuments.

The discovery came as President Donald Trump stoked the controversy over the statues, echoing white nationalists by decrying the removal of what he said were "beautiful" monuments to the pro-slavery Confederacy.