https://gazette.com/news/wex/confederate-memorial-to-be-removed-in-coming-days-from-arlington-national-cemetery/article_c1bfa69c-1017-5ad6-9828-358e8e47c8ec.html

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — A Confederate memorial is to be removed from Arlington National Cemetery in northern Virginia in the coming days, part of the push to remove symbols that commemorate the Confederacy from military-related facilities, a cemetery official said Saturday.

The decision ignores a recent demand from more than 40 Republican congressmen that the Pentagon suspend efforts to dismantle and remove the monument from Arlington cemetery.

Some of the figures also on the statue include a Black woman depicted as "Mammy" holding what is said to be the child of a white officer, and an enslaved man following his owner to war.

In a recent letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, more than 40 House Republicans said the commission overstepped its authority when it recommended that the monument be removed. The congressmen contended that the monument "does not honor nor commemorate the Confederacy; the memorial commemorates reconciliation and national unity."

"The Department of Defense must respect Congress' clear legislative intentions regarding the Naming Commission's legislative authority" the letter said.

U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Georgia Republican, has led the push to block the memorial's removal. Clyde's office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Saturday.

A process to prepare for the memorial's removal and relocation has been completed, the cemetery said. The memorial's bronze elements will be relocated, while the granite base and foundation will remain in place to avoid disturbing surrounding graves, it said.

Earlier this year, Fort Bragg shed its Confederate namesake to become Fort Liberty, part of the broad Department of Defense initiative, motivated by the 2020 George Floyd protests, to rename military installations that had been named after confederate soldiers.