The Confederate Memorial at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia is set to be removed this week, officials said.
Arlington National Cemetery spokesperson Kerry Meeker told CNN in an email Sunday they anticipate the monument to be completely removed by Dec. 22.
The move is the latest action in the removal of Confederate symbols from US military facilities set forth by a Department of Defense directive issued last October.
Cemetery officials said the statue’s granite base and foundation will stay at the site to “avoid disturbing surrounding graves.”.
According to the cemetery’s website, Confederate remains weren’t allowed to be buried at Arlington until 1900, 35 years after the Civil War ended.
Last September, the U.S. Congressional Naming Commission recommended the Confederate statue at the cemetery be removed.
The changes at Arlington National Cemetery come a year after West Point removed several Robert E. Lee items, which included a portrait and a stone bust of the Confederate general. »
