Wednesday, July 8th

Richmond removes Confederate Soldiers and Sailors statue

The Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument is secured in lifting straps as it is removed from Libby Hill Park, Wednesday, July 8, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The 17 ft statue stands on a 73 foot pedestal overlooking downtown. The statue is one of several that will be removed by the city as part of the Black Lives Matter reaction. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Crews remove the Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument in Libby Hill Park, Wednesday, July 8, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The 17 ft statue stands on a 73 foot pedestal overlooking downtown. The statue is one of several that will be removed by the city as part of the Black Lives Matter reaction. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Work crews have taken down the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors statue, the sixth Confederate monument to be removed in Richmond amid national protests against police brutality and symbols many see as racist icons.

Crews arrived at about 7 a.m Wednesday in the city's Libby Hill neighborhood to take down the monument, which towers 100 feet (30.5 meters) high and was installed in 1894. It depicts a Confederate soldier standing atop a pillar. The phrases "BLM" and "TAKE IT DOWN" were recently painted on the pavement that surrounds it, NBC 12 reported.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, citing his emergency powers on July 1, ordered the removal of all city-owned Confederate statues. A statue of Gen. J.E.B. Stuart was taken down by crews on Tuesday and four other monuments were removed last week.

Richmond's largest statue left standing is on state land - the massive monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Its removal, under the orders of Gov. Ralph Northam, has been blocked at least temporarily by a court injunction.

The parents of King William High School 2020 graduate Lance Jennings, center, take photographs of him on the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue Wednesday June 24, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The statue has become a focal point of protests for the Black Lives Matter movement in the Richmond area. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

These Confederate statues were erected decades after the Civil War, during an era when Southern states were crushing attempts to achieve equality for Black people, and the "Lost Cause" movement was promoting the inaccurate idea that the South's rebellion was a fight solely for states rights and not slavery. In Richmond, the first major monument - the Lee statue - was erected in 1890.

After years of little change, a growing number of these Confederate symbols are being removed, prompted by nationwide protests against police brutality and racism that appear to have inspired a profound shift in American thinking.

State and local governments have take down monuments in response to impassioned demonstrators. And in a few cases, protesters have toppled the figures themselves.

Other statues that have been recently removed in Richmond, the onetime capital of the Confederacy, honor Gen. Stonewall Jackson and naval officer Matthew Fontaine Maury.

This photo shows the Statue of Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument on Libbie Hill as the sun sets in Richmond, Va., Monday, July 6, 2020. The 17-foot statue resting on a 73 foot pedestal is slated to be removed by the city along with the other Confederate monuments in the city. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

The Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument is shown in Libby Hill Park Wednesday July 8, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The statue is one of several that will be removed by the city as part of the Black Lives Matter reaction. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

The Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument is shown in Libby Hill Park Wednesday July 8, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The statue is one of several that will be removed by the city as part of the Black Lives Matter reaction. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

The Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument is shown in Libby Hill Park Wednesday July 8, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The statue is one of several that will be removed by the city as part of the Black Lives Matter reaction. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Crews lower the statue Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart in preparation for transport after removing it from it's pedestal on Monument Avenue, Tuesday, July 7, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The statue is one of several that will be removed by the city as part of the Black Lives Matter reaction. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

In this Monday, June 8, 2020 file photo, an image of George Floyd is projected onto the base of the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va. The U.S. has been dramatically disrupted in a matter of months, brought low by a global pandemic, Depression-era economic dislocation, and then, nationwide unrest over racial injustice. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Crews work to remove the Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument in Libby Hill Park, Wednesday, July 8, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The 17 ft statue stands on a 73 foot pedestal overlooking downtown. The statue is one of several that will be removed by the city as part of the Black Lives Matter reaction. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Crews remove the Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument in Libby Hill Park, Wednesday, July 8, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The 17 ft statue stands on a 73 foot pedestal overlooking downtown. The statue is one of several that will be removed by the city as part of the Black Lives Matter reaction. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Spectators watch as crews work to remove the Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument in Libby Hill Park Wednesday July 8, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The 17-foot statue stands on a 73- foot pedestal overlooking downtown. The statue is one of several that will be removed by the city as part of the Black Lives Matter reaction. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)