Ohio city to remove Robert E. Lee monument

The city of Franklin, Ohio, is set to remove and relocate a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in the wake of violence over the weekend in Charlottesville, Va., at a white supremacist rally.

According to a report by local news outlet Cincinnati.com, the statue is expected to be removed from its current spot on a right-of-way to a new location.

The decision has been cited as a “public safety hazard,” but it comes in the light of protests over Confederate statues and monuments. 

Franklin’s acting city manager, Jonathan Westendorf, said in a statement the statue would be returned to Franklin Township in order to “avoid the creation of a public safety hazard” because the statue was sitting on a right-of-way on the Dixie Highway. 

{mosads}”It’s never been a problem in the past,” Vice Mayor Carl Bray said, according to the news site. “I think we should leave it up.”

The statue was reportedly built in the 1920s and has been a part of the community “without interruption,” according to Franklin Township Administrator Traci Stivers. 

Baltimore removed all four of its Confederate statues on Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, while members of the Congressional Black Caucus renewed their calls to remove statues of Confederates from the Capitol.

Protesters also toppled a Confederate monument in Durham, N.C., on Monday. 

President Trump addressed the issue during a press conference on Tuesday, in which he appeared to conflate former President George Washington with Lee. 

“They were there to protest the taking down of the statue of Robert E. Lee,” the president said, referring to the protest in Charlottesville, which was organized by white supremacists.

“This week it’s Robert E. Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week, and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?” he continued.