‘We will lose the story of the United States’ by not honoring George Washington, Mount Vernon warns

In response to protesters tearing down a 100-year-old statue of George Washington and vandalizing it, Washington's Mount Vernon warned that “we will lose the story of the United States” by failing to honor Washington, adding that without the founding father and former U.S. president, "there would be no United States" or U.S. Constitution.

The Mount Vernon estate is a historic home of Washington, the first U.S. president, and is located in Fairfax County, Va.

Protesters in Portland, Ore., on Thursday night spray painted "colonist" and "BLM [Black Lives Matter]" on the statue, wrapped an American flag around it and set it on fire.

"Without George Washington, there would be no United States of America; there would be no Constitution, which allows the freedom of speech, assembly, and protest, as well as the separation of church from state and without Washington we would not have civilian-led military," said Mount Vernon President and CEO Dr. Douglas Bradburn in a statement provided to Just the News on Friday.

"If we fail to honor George Washington, because we understand him only as a slave owner, we will lose the story of the United States, for it will have no beginning and very little direction," he added.

According to Mount Vernon, Washington "left directions for the emancipation of all the slaves that he owned" after the death of his wife, Martha. She decided to "free her late-husband’s slaves early" and the process was fully completed in 1801, according to government documents.