NEWTON FALLS — A plan to have Newton Falls become a “statuary sanctuary city” for taken down statues and monuments from other parts of the nation has received national attention on various news outlets.

The national attention has local residents concerned about protestors coming to the village and causing damage.

On the Fourth of July, Village Manager David Lynch issued a proclamation declaring Newton Falls a statuary sanctuary city.

The proclamation volunteers the village to accept the statues that have been removed throughout the U.S. and place them in a location of honor in the community.

The village has received national attention on Newsweek, The Hill, Politico, MSN Money, Cleveland area television stations and other news sites.

Lynch on Tuesday appeared on Fox News and Friends where he discussed the reason for issuing the proclamation to save the nation’s historic statues.

He said residents in Newton Falls respect the American values of courage and freedom, and value local history.

“I don’t want to wake up in the future when kids are asking, ‘Who is that George Washington guy?’ That is not the country we want to live in,” Lynch said on the Fox News and Friends broadcast.

Lynch said he is concerned that statues of iconic historic heroes who established the country and had great achievements such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are being taken down as a way to tear down history.

He said since issuing the proclamation, he has had dialogue with the Columbus Arts Commission of possibly getting the statue of Christopher Columbus, but nothing is official.

Lynch said if the village receives any statues, they will be placed in one of the parks.

“We have room for statues at our main park or one of the smaller parks. I have a local private property owner who wants to remain anonymous who offered to create a statuary park,” Lynch said at Monday’s council meeting.

He said the village will not become “a statue warehouse,” with statues of the nine names listed in the proclamation that the village wants to display: Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S. Grant, Patrick Henry, Francis Scott Key, Theodore Roosevelt and Christopher Columbus.

On Saturday, the village unveiled a 30-foot-high hollow Statue of Liberty, with Lynch indicating the Trumbull County Council of Governments helping with the move from state Route 5 in Braceville to the downtown area of the village. The statue used to stand in front of Liberty Tax Service, which went out of business.

Mayor Ken Kline said the village is proud of the country and its history.

“If the statues are available, we will enjoy bringing in appropriate statues so our children will have the opportunity to learn more about history,” Kline said.

Statues have been taken down in Baltimore, Minneapolis and other cities.

However, not everyone in the village agrees with Lynch’s proclamation.

At Monday’s meeting, council members Zachary Svette and John Baryak wanted to have a motion placed on the agenda to rescind Lynch’s proclamation but did not receive the needed four of five votes of council to get it placed on the agenda.

“Who gave you permission to do this proclamation? I am concerned what you did may put the community in harm’s way. With the way things are today who knows who may come here and cause problems,” Baryak said to Lynch at the meeting.

Lynch said he has received numerous emails from across the country of people who would come to Newton Falls to see the statues.

Resident Werner Lange has started an online petition against any “racist statues” and declaring the proclamation designating Newton Falls a “statuary sanctuary city” null and void.

Lange said “this effort to create a mecca for racism must be stopped” and he is against any rejected statues being brought to Newton Falls.

He praised efforts to remove statues of what he says are “mass murderers, Confederate traitors, slave owners and white supremacists.”

His online petition states, “No celebration of systemic racism, genocide or white supremacy has any place in America The Beautiful.”

“We resolutely reject the proposed denigration of our fair town into a mecca for racists and their ilk and declare this shameful proclamation null and void,” Lange’s petition states.

Lynch said the villagewill not be accepting any Confederate statues and noted it is only seeking the ones he listed in the proclamation.

The replica of the Statue of Liberty was purchased for $2,000 from Liberty Tax Service and placed at the newly named Liberty Park off North Center and East Broad streets.