Scott Stafford is reporting for The Berkshire Eagle the Soldiers Monument, a memorial to Union soldiers who served in the Civil War, on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., was defaced by one or more vandals over the weekend. The vandals painted a Confederate flag and the word “rebel” on the monument located outside of Griffin Hall, sparking a strong reaction from the Williams College president. “The Confederate flag and the word ‘Rebel’ are commonly used as symbols by white supremacists and other extremist factions,” Maud Mandel wrote in a letter to the college community. “The appearance of those marks is more evidence that we live in a world where people hold racist and otherwise hateful ideas. When someone defaces our campus — our own home — with symbols of those ideologies, it becomes especially personal,” she said. College staff had removed the markings by Oct. 10. Mandel advised students interested in helping the anti-racism effort to visit the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’s web page, which includes information about anti-racist and related efforts by the college community, locally and nationally. Campus Safety Services is conducting an investigation into the vandalism with the help of the Williamstown Police Department, according to a college spokesperson. Mandel asked that anyone with relevant information contact Campus Safety Services at 413-597-4444. Read the full story in The Berkshire Eagle.