Should Confederate era statues be removed?

Light shines through the trees near a Confederate statue Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, in Baltimore - ap
Light shines through the trees near a Confederate statue Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, in Baltimore - ap

Confederate monuments are being removed around the country under pressure from those who say they honour a regime that enslaved African-Americans. The pace has increased, however, in the wake of last weekend's deadly confrontation at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

These are some of the monuments that have been removed, covered up or vandalised in recent days:

NEW YORK

Plaques honoring Gen. Robert E. Lee were removed from the property of a now-closed Episcopal church in Brooklyn on Wednesday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo also called on the Army to rename two streets at nearby Fort Hamilton that honored Lee and Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

The plaques, including one more than a century old, were taken down at St. John's Episcopal Church because they were "offensive to the community," said Bishop Lawrence Provenzano of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island.

The Roger B. Taney monument base in Mount Vernon Place is viewed in Baltimore, Maryland, after it was removed by the city on August 16, 2017 - Credit: AFP
The Roger B. Taney monument base in Mount Vernon Place is viewed in Baltimore, Maryland, after it was removed by the city on August 16, 2017 Credit: AFP

BALTIMORE

Four Confederacy-related monuments were hauled away on trucks under cover of darkness late on Tuesday night and early on Wednesday.

Mayor Catherine Pugh said she was concerned that such statues might spark violence.

One monument honored Maryland resident Roger B. Taney, the U.S. Supreme Court justice who wrote the Dred Scott decision denying citizenship to African-Americans.

A damaged nearly century-old Confederate statue lies on a pallet in a warehouse in Durham, N.C. on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017 - Credit: AP
A damaged nearly century-old Confederate statue lies on a pallet in a warehouse in Durham, N.C. on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017 Credit: AP

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA

A bronze statue of a Confederate soldier was pulled from its pedestal by protesters on Monday night.

The 1924 monument stood in front of a government office building until demonstrators used a rope to pull it down. Four people have been arrested, and authorities plan more arrests.

Gov Roy Cooper has called for the removal of all Confederate monuments on public property around the state.

The Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson monument base is viewed in Wyman Park Dell in Baltimore, Maryland, after being removed by the city on August 16, 2017 - Credit: AFP
The Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson monument base is viewed in Wyman Park Dell in Baltimore, Maryland, after being removed by the city on August 16, 2017 Credit: AFP

WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

In another North Carolina town, two Confederate statues were vandalised with spray paint.

Someone also tied a rope around one of the statues in what may have been an attempt to topple it, police said Wednesday. No arrests were immediately made.

A monument to Confederate General John Hunt Morgan stands encased in a protective scaffolding because of local construction, outside the Historic Lexington Courthouse in Lexington - Credit: Reuters
A monument to Confederate General John Hunt Morgan stands encased in a protective scaffolding because of local construction, outside the Historic Lexington Courthouse in Lexington Credit: Reuters

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE

A 1914 monument honoring fallen Confederate soldiers was splattered with paint. Opponents are signing a petition to have it removed from a neighbourhood near the University of Tennessee campus.

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

A 52-foot-tall obelisk honoring Confederate soldiers and sailors was covered by wooden panels at the mayor's order. The 1905 monument is in a downtown park.

The cover-up on Tuesday prompted a lawsuit by Alabama's attorney general, who argues that it violates a new law prohibiting the removal of historical structures, including rebel memorials.

A statue of Robert E. Lee stands in the background as Gary Stuard demonstrates with the Democratic Socialists of America, North Texas group, to remember Heather Heyer, at Lee Park in Dallas on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017 - Credit: Brandon Wade/The Dallas Morning News via AP
A statue of Robert E. Lee stands in the background as Gary Stuard demonstrates with the Democratic Socialists of America, North Texas group, to remember Heather Heyer, at Lee Park in Dallas on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017 Credit: Brandon Wade/The Dallas Morning News via AP

LOS ANGELES

Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where many movie legends are interred, removed a 6-foot Confederate monument that was erected in 1925.

The stone and attached plaque were trucked away to storage Wednesday after the cemetery received hundreds of calls and emails requesting its removal.

More than 30 Confederate veterans and their families are buried in the cemetery. Their grave markers will remain.

A sign calling for Emancipation Park to be renamed after Heather Heyer is placed at the base of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, blocks from where she was killed and 19 others injured when a car slammed into a crowd of people protesting against a white supremacist rally, August 16, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia - Credit: Getty

SAN DIEGO

The city removed a plaque naming Confederate President Jefferson Davis from a downtown plaza on Wednesday.

The plaque honored San Diego as the Western terminus of the Jefferson Davis Highway between Virginia and California. It was presented to the city in 1926 by a state chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

A Confederate statue in Piedmont Park is splattered with red paint after being vandalized in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 15 August 2017 - Credit: EPA
A Confederate statue in Piedmont Park is splattered with red paint after being vandalized in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 15 August 2017 Credit: EPA

TAMPA, FLORIDA

A 106-year-old statue of Confederate soldiers will remain on public property unless opponents raise enough money to move it to a private cemetery, officials decided.

The Hillsborough County Commission voted last month to remove the monument but voted Wednesday to do so only if private funds can be raised in 30 days. 

Charlottesville far-right protest