US / Robert E. Lee Robert E. Lee Statue Meets Its Fate Monument formerly in Charlottesville is destroyed in relatively secret fashion By John Johnson, Newser Staff Posted Oct 26, 2023 6:50 PM CDT Copied Workers prepare to remove the monument of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on July 10, 2021, in Charlottesville, Va. (AP Photo/John C. Clark, File) A statue of Robert E. Lee that stoked much controversy in Charlottesville, Virginia, is no longer a statue. As the Washington Post and NPR reveal, the monument to the Confederate general has been melted down. The plan now is for the resulting bronze ingots to be turned into an as-yet unspecified work of art to be displayed in the city, under the direction of the Swords Into Plowshares project. The melting was done in secret, and the Post link has video of the process. Neither outlet is revealing the locale of where all this took place—NPR refers only to an "out-of-state foundry" and the Post dateline on the story reads "Somewhere in the US South." One reason is the volatile politics over the decision to destroy the monument: This is the statue that sparked the 2017 Unite the Right rally of white nationalists 2017 in Charlottesville, a rally that resulted in the death of counterprotester Heather Heyer and injuries to dozens of others. (More Robert E. Lee stories.) Report an error