The owner of the Somerset Patriots baseball team says that he wants to buy the statue of singer Kate Smith that use to stand outside the Philadelphia Flyers’ arena and erect it at his ballpark.

The Flyers first covered and then removed the statue of the singer, known for her rendition of “God Bless America,” after allegations of racism emerged connected to some other songs that she sang.

Both the Flyers and the New York Yankees chose to discontinue the use of Smith’s version of “God Bless America” as a result.

But Patriots owner Steve Kalafer says that the Kate Smith and the song “God Bless America” are very important to veterans.

“[The team plays] at every Veterans Day, where we have all the veterans in the area come as our guests and assemble at TD Bank Ballpark,” he says. “And Kate Smith sings ‘God Bless America.’ Many of these veterans heard this during World War II, during the Korean War, during the Vietnam War and other wars.”

The Patriots began their season on April 26.