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Plan: Richmond's Lee statue would be cut apart, reassembled

The statue’s removal still depends on a court’s approval. But in the meantime, the state has been figuring out how it could deconstruct the sculpture.
Credit: AP
The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee is the only Confederate monument left on on Monument Avenue, Friday July 10, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The city of Richmond removed 11 Confederate monuments along Monument Avenue as well as other locations in the city. The Lee monument owned by the State of Virginia is scheduled to be removed after a court injunction is resolved. Plans to remove the statue include cutting it up into three pieces. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

RICHMOND, Va. — The state of Virginia plans to remove the large statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Richmond’s Monument Avenue by cutting it into three sections and then reassembling it elsewhere. 

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that statue’s removal still depends on a court’s approval. But in the meantime, the state has been figuring out how it could deconstruct the sculpture. 

A state review board recently approved a plan that calls for a crane to remove the 21-foot statue from its 40-foot pedestal. 

The bronze statue would then be taken apart because it's too tall to go under bridges. 

A conservation firm said the entire process will leave “little evidence of cutting and reassembly.” 

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