It seems that Thomas Jefferson may be one of our most misquoted presidents.

A statue of Jefferson, along with George Washington, was just added to the Town of Fountain Hills public art display.

The sculpture has an accompanying plaque with what is supposed to be some of his more famous quotes.

However, since the display was installed, a number of citizens have commented and complained that some of the quotes may not be just as Jefferson stated.

There is an on-line petition asking the Town Council to have the plaque replaced.

Late last week Jerry Miles, with the Cultural and Civic Association’s Public Art Committee, told The Times that the PAC board of directors would meet Tuesday to make a decision about replacing the plaque.

“The issue will be resolved,” Miles said.

There are five statues of U.S. presidents in the park along Saguaro Boulevard at the flag pole, and they all have plaques, and all but the Theodore Roosevelt plaque includes famous quotes from the respective president.

It appears that only the Jefferson display has issues with the accuracy of the quotes.

The Jefferson Monticello website fields a lot of questions regarding the accuracy of various quotes attributed to Jefferson.

It seems that someone has circulated an email with Jefferson quotes designed to create a specific political point a view, or build Jefferson up as a “prophet,” according to the website.

A number of those quotes, however, are improperly attributed to Jefferson, are incorrect or incomplete.

Community Services Director Mark Mayer, who oversees parks and the public art collection, said the plaques were placed by the Arts Committee and the contents were not part of the process of the Town Council accepting the artwork.

Miles said he is not sure who did the research on the Jefferson plaque. He said he was the one who found the quotes that appear on the Lincoln, Washington and Reagan plaques.

Miles, a former mayor, said if the Town Council wants to review the contents of such plaques it is their choice. However, he said he does not know that the committee will be adding any more presidents to the display.

Miles has worked hard to foster the town’s public art collection, and he was clearly unhappy about this controversy when reached by a Times reporter.

“The art collection is too important to let this kind of stuff get in the way of it,” Miles said.