LANCASTER -A Lancaster man charged with attempting to set a 151-year-old war monument ablaze will have his case proceed to county court following a preliminary hearing. A judge ruled that the case of 38-year-old Francisco Rodriguez could proceed to Common Pleas Court on arson of a historic resource, intentional desecration of a public monument, public mutilation of a flag, defiant trespass of an enclosed area, and disorderly conduct. Rodriguez is accused of attempting to light the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Penn Square on fire the afternoon of July 19. The monument was dedicated to Lancaster’s Civil War dead in 1874. Lancaster Safety Coalition footage as well as private videos showed Rodriguez crossing a four-foot-high fence into an enclosed area of the historic monument. Rodriguez remains in Lancaster County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bail.
FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ