Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery Will Soon Be Removed

The Confederate memorial that was erected in 1914 is set to be removed from Virginia’s Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) before the end of the year.

ANC announced Saturday that it would be complying with Congress’s mandate to remove the Confederate Memorial by the first of next year. The process to prepare for the memorial’s “careful removal and relocation” has already been completed, ANC said in its news release.

The bronze elements of the memorial will be relocated, but the granite base and foundation will remain at Arlington as to not disturb any surrounding graves, ANC explained. Safety fencing has already been installed around the site of the memorial, and officials say that the removal should be complete by Dec. 22.

“While the work occurs, the surrounding landscape, graves, and headstones will be protected,” ANC said in another, more detailed release. “During the deconstruction, the area around the Memorial will be protected to ensure no impact to the surrounding landscape and grave markers and to ensure the safety of visitors in and around the vicinity of the deconstruction.”

“If you are visiting the cemetery this week, we ask that you abide by all safety signage and exercise caution in and around the construction site,” ANC added.

The removal comes after Congress ordered the Secretary of Defense in 2021 to implement a plan to “remove all names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederate States of America…or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America from all assets of the Department of Defense” by 2024, the cemetery said in its release.

Dozens of Republican lawmakers have opposed the removal. A spokeswoman for Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin told WPDE he plans to move it New Market Battlefield State Historical Park.

On its website, ANC says that "the history of the Confederate Memorial embodies the complex and contested legacy of the Civil War at Arlington National Cemetery, and in American culture generally.”

“The Confederate Memorial offers an opportunity for visitors to reflect on the history and meanings of the Civil War, slavery, and the relationship between military service, citizenship and race in America," ANC wrote.