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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) — A statue honoring Mexican American veterans was vandalized on the Fourth of July, according to the California Mexican American Veterans Memorial Foundation.

A release sent by the foundation Monday says the base beneath the marble statue of a soldier known as “El Soldado” was graffitied with the words “F— Colonizers.”

“We consider this vandalism a hate crime towards our community,” the California Mexican American Veterans Memorial Foundation said in its release.

The memorial across from the State Capitol was created by the Mexican American War Mothers shortly after World War II and honors the Mexican American veterans who served in the war.

A ceremony is held at the statue every year to honor Mexican American veterans.

“(The Mexican American War Mothers) wanted to show everyone not all patriotic, hard fighting veterans looked like John Wayne,” Jessie Orta of the California Mexican American Veterans Memorial Foundation told FOX40 at last year’s ceremony. “They came in all types and colors.”

The memorial was also vandalized several years back. At the time, veterans called the vandalism a hate crime.