The statue of Robert E. Lee was cut in half after removal and headed for the women’s orthodontic center.

Richmond, Virginia (WRIC) — One of the Confederate’s largest remaining monuments temporarily headed to a neighboring county after Virginia removed the statue of Robert E. Lee on Wednesday, according to sources who know the plan directly. rice field.

On Wednesday, 131 years after being built in the former Confederate capital as a homage to Civil War leaders, a bronze statue of Lee on a 21-foot-high horse was lifted from a 40-foot pedestal.

A crowd exploded with cheers and songs as he lifted a giant statue of a Confederate general from a giant pedestal towering over Virginia’s capital.

Many believed that the former place of honor for this statue on Monument Avenue was the unpleasant glory of the past of southern slavery. Others argued that withdrawing it would erase history. Civil servants resisted the call to remove George Floyd under the knees of police officers until his death.

The 12-ton statue, which prompted the closure of most around the monument, was cut into at least two parts at the waist.

After the removal, the statue debris was to be taken to the Goochland Women’s Orthodontic Center in Virginia for temporary storage until a final disposal decision was made, sources said.

Workers were expected to remove the decorative ornaments and release the time capsule on Thursday, but the pedestal is to remain for the foreseeable future.

Democratic Governor Ralph Northam announced in June 2020, ten days after Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, a plan to remove the statue that caused national protests against police atrocities and racism. The plan then stalled until the Virginia Supreme Court ruled against two proceedings against its removal last week, paving the way for Wednesday’s event.

In Richmond, the capital of the Confederates for most of the Civil War, the statue of Lee was the epicenter of last summer’s protests. After Floyd’s death, the city removed more than 12 other Confederate statues on the city’s land.

The statue of Lee is considered a masterpiece because it was created by the internationally renowned French sculptor Marius-Jean-Antonin Merci and has been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places since 2007.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.