It has been there for several years, before the Socialist started their separation of church and state propaganda. The Constitution says no such thing, which is why we need strict Constitutionalists in the SC.
It's only been there a few years, not long enough to have any historical significance.
I thought the Framers wanted to separate church & state so there would be no appearance of a state sponsored denomination as in good old England. That bench smacks of a particular type of worship, and a particular way of relating to a deity.
Unlike most of our supreme court justices I don't see a constitutional issue in the 10 commandments in a legal setting. But "Jesus loves you" has nothing to do with education, it is a blatent and gratuitous religious message. I still say it has no place in a public school.