Confederate statue in North Carolina taken down after more than a century

A statue of a Confederate soldier that stood outside a historic courthouse near Raleigh, N.C., for more than a century was removed by local officials this week, The Associated Press reports.

According to the news service, the removal of the statue, which had been standing in Pittsboro, N.C. for 112 years, began on Tuesday night and was completed by Wednesday morning. 

The action comes years after a state law was passed protecting Confederate monuments and statues in North Carolina from removal without a signoff from the state’s Historical Commission, The News & Observer in Raleigh noted.

However, that law reportedly only applied to statues on public lands. According to the AP, the statue in Chatham County sat on private property owned by the a local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. 

The group reportedly argued against its removal in court. However, a judge allowed its removal after county officials pointed to the location of the statue during court proceedings, the AP reported.

The move by county officials upset some in the community, including local resident Robert Butler, who called the removal “heartbreaking” in an interview with the AP.

“A statue’s never hurt a soul, just like a grave memorial. Do they hurt anybody?” he asked.

The county said in a statement seen by CNN that the statue and the pedestal on which it stood would be “transported to a safe location where they will be preserved and stored.” The county reportedly added that the local group will be able to retrieve them when it “finds a more appropriate location to place them.”