A statue depicting American-Confederate General Robert E. Lee has been removed from a historic Virginia street.
The 12-ton, six-story bronze statue - which has stood tall in the state for more than 130 years - was the final confederate statue to be removed from Richmond's historic Monument Avenue, CNN reports.
Its removal comes after symbols of the Confederacy across the country were targeted amid the Black Lives Matter protests last year, following the killing of George Floyd. Such symbols were deemed racist, with founder of BLM RV Lawrence West telling CNN on Tuesday:
"With the coming down of the monument it is also a part of coming down with those types of ideals. It brings some closure to the conversation, 'It's OK to be racist'."
The statue was removed at approximately 9:00AM local time, as a surrounding crowd chanted "Black lives matter" and sung "Na, na, na, na! Hey, hey, hey! Goodbye!"
One witness told CNN: "It's bittersweet. I'm glad to see it down, but I would like to see more progress on issues such as police brutality and housing inequality."
The statue will now be placed into storage.
Per ABC News, lawsuits seeking to block the removal were filed by nearby residents who said they had a property right to keep the statue in place, citing an 1890 deed and an 1889 General Assembly joint resolution.
However, a pair of rulings from the state Supreme Court last week cemented its removal.
Democratic Governor Ralph Northam described the rulings as a "tremendous win".
West added: "Robert E. Lee standing here on Monument Avenue is very symbolic to the Confederate mindset, you know the levels of oppression that people feel on a regular day-to-day basis."
Following the BLM protests last year, almost every other Confederate statue in the city was removed either at the request of Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney or by protestors toppling them. These included monuments of Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and Gen. J.E.B. Stuart.
Per NPR, although the statue has been removed, the graffiti-covered pedestal will remain in place, with officials continuing conversations over who or what will replace Lee.