Richmond's last Confederate statue removed; dispute over relocation continues

The removal of Richmond, Virginia's last standing city-owned Confederate statue was completed Monday but the fight over where it will be relocated continues.

Richmond's deputy chief administrative officer, Robert Steidel, said the statue of Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill was removed Monday morning.

It will be moved into storage until the administrative process is finished for it to be donated, as planned, to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, Steidel said.

Two years ago, amid protests after the murder of George Floyd, the city of Richmond, which was the Confederate capital for most of the Civil War, began removing all of its Confederate monuments.

Since then, more than a dozen such memorials across the city have been taken down. But as ABC affiliate WRIC reported, the removal of Hill's statue was complicated because the site also includes Hill's remains and four indirect descendants filed in court to have a say in the process.

According to WRIC, they contended that because the remains of the general, who was killed by Union troops near the end of the Civil War, were buried under the monument in 1891, the statue should be considered a cemetery and grave.

While Hill's relatives and the city came to an agreement to move his remains to Fairview Cemetery in Culpeper, the family has argued they should also decide where to relocate the statue.

In October, a Richmond Circuit Court Judge ruled against the descendants, WRIC reported, giving the city control over where the statue will end up.

Hill's distant family has appealed, according to WRIC.

While the city intends to send the memorial to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, Hill's relatives want to have the memorial moved to the Cedar Mountain battlefield by the cemetery where Hill's remains will be taken.