Twenty years after Matthew Shepard  was brutally killed  in Wyoming, his ashes will finally be laid to rest at the Washington National Cathedral.

The cathedral said  in a press release  Thursday Shepard will be interred following a service to be held later this month.

On Oct.

7, 1998, 21-year-old Shepard was attacked, tied to a fence and left for dead by two men who targeted him because he was gay.

He died six days later at a hospital.

Shepard's death almost immediately became a national symbol for LGBTQ rights.

And his parents were afraid that if they chose a final resting place for their son, it would be vandalized.

But his father  told The New York Times  Thursday he thinks the cathedral is "the perfect, appropriate place.

We are, as a family, happy and relieved that we now have a final home for Matthew, a place that he himself would love." Shepard's service at the cathedral will take place Oct.

26.

Additional reporting from  Newsy affiliate CNN .