Statue of Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart being removed in Richmond

Crews started taking down the statue of Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart in Richmond on Tuesday, just one week after the mayor ordered the removal of all Confederate monuments standing on city property. 

Crews went up in a cherry picker with power tools on Tuesday and separated the bronze statue of the general, which was installed on Richmond’s Monument Avenue in 1907, from its granite base, The Associated Press reported.

A crane was prepared to lift the statue onto a truck and drive it away, accordion go the newswire. 

The statue of Stuart, a commander of the Cavalry Corps of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, depicts Stuart in full uniform with a sword at his side. The statue is 15-feet high and sits atop a 7-foot pedestal, according to the AP. 

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney (D) ordered the immediate removal of all Confederate monuments from city property on Wednesday. The same day, officials removed a statue of Gen. Stonewall Jackson. 

Another statue commemorating Naval officer Matthew Fontaine Maury has also been removed, according to the AP. 

A statue of Lee remains in the area on state land. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has arranged for the statue’s removal, but he has been blocked by a temporary injunction issued in one of several lawsuits filed against the move. 

Protesters nationwide have called for the removal of statues commemorating Confederate figures and white supremacists. The protests over racial inequality and police brutality were sparked by the police killing of Georgia Floyd in Minneapolis at the end of May.