RICHMOND, Va. — A statue of Robert E. Lee, the largest Confederate monument in the United States, will be removed from its spot in Richmond, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday.
“Virginia’s largest monument to the Confederate insurrection will come down this week,” Northam said in a statement. “This is an important step in showing who we are and what we value as a Commonwealth.”
The 60-foot-tall bronze statue of the general, perched upon a horse on Monument Avenue in Richmond, will be removed in pieces, 131 years after it was first erected, The Richmond Times-Leader reported. The statue will be placed in secure storage at a state‐owned facility, according to WRIC.
Robert E. Lee Statue to be removed Wednesday, 9/8/21. Installation of protective fencing begins Tuesday PM, 9/7/21. Continue to follow this site for the latest up-to-date info throughout the removal process. pic.twitter.com/LFphormymk
— VAMonument2021 (@VAmonument2021) September 6, 2021
On Thursday, crews will remove the plaques at the base of the statue and replace a time capsule that is believed to be at the site, the Times-Leader reported.
The Lee statue, the first to be erected on Monument Avenue in 1890, is the last Confederate statue along Richmond’s Monument Avenue to be removed. The 40-foot granite pedestal will remain at its location for now, WRIC reported.
The pedestal still has paint and graffiti from Richmond’s protests against police brutality and systemic racism, the Times-Leader reported.
The final hurdle to remove the statue came Thursday when the Supreme Court of Virginia sided with the state in a pair of lawsuits, according to WRIC.
Today’s unanimous ruling is about moving beyond the past. Step by step, Virginia is building a more inclusive future—where the Commonwealth glorifies the Confederacy no longer. pic.twitter.com/RjBkQ44BwC
— Governor Ralph Northam (@GovernorVA) September 2, 2021
Northam had called for the removal of the Lee statue in June 2020, but the legal challenges to his decision asserted that state officials were trying to operate outside its powers, the Times-Leader reported.
Parking restrictions will go into effect on Tuesday as state officials put up fencing along Monument Avenue and Allen Street in Richmond, according to WTVR.
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