FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Crews on Saturday removed a privately owned monument honoring Confederate soldiers in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
A brief statement from the city said the monument was relocated by its owners and placed into storage. The action was not directed or paid for by the city, the statement said.
The 23-foot-tall structure topped by a bronze statue of a Confederate soldier holding a gun and flanked by two small cannons came down early Saturday afternoon after more than five hours of efforts, the Fayetteville Observer reported.
Some onlookers cheered as the soldier was lifted off its base and put on a flatbed trailer, according to the newspaper.
City Councilman Johnny Dawkins said on his Facebook page that the Sons of Confederate Veterans and Daughters of the Confederacy own the statue and had it moved.
The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis has prompted a wave of Confederate monument removals across the country.
“I certainly do not want to speak for the owners of the statue,” Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin said, according to the newspaper. “But I think they saw the current environment and sensitivity, and the public safety aspect, and made a decision. And I’m glad they did.″
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