I know how dead set people are on keeping these up,” Adkins said. Monument Avenue had also been the site of "Easter on Parade",[9] another spring tradition during which many Richmonders would have strolled the avenue wearing Easter bonnets and other finery. Protestors at the removal of the statue of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson from it’s pedestal in Richmond last week. Monument Avenue has served as a sort of epicenter for protests calling for equality in racial justice. A U.S. congressman called last month for a hall honoring Maury at the U.S. Throughout this period, the statues were covered in graffiti and surrounded with materials such as signs, artwork, candles, and flowers. Eventually, the United Daughters of the Confederacy joined in the fundraising, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the City of Richmond each donated $1,000, and even President Wilson, a native Virginian, joined the Association. [20] Mayor Stoney is under investigation for the awarding of a $1.8 million contract to a political donor for the removal of the monuments. Adkins said he felt compelled to show up so he could be certain the monument was taken down. Virginia had more than 220 public memorials to the Confederacy, according to the governor’s office. Richmond citizens had been wanting to erect statues for three Virginians who had helped defend the city (two of whom were killed in the defense). exceptions are the Ashe monument which is staying and the Lee monument tied up in legal issues which still stands but is covered with painted graffiti as far up as people can reach. In Richmond alone, people have toppled a Jefferson Davis statue; thrown one of Christopher Columbus into a lake; toppled the Howitzers Monument, which featured a Confederate artilleryman; and torn down a statue of William Carter Wickham, a Confederate general. The only Confederate statue that remains on Richmond's prominent Monument Avenue is a memorial to Gen. Robert E. Lee located on state property. It was the last of five Confederate monuments erected on Richmond’s famed Monument Avenue. Conservative Democrats resolved to break this formidable alliance by reviving the fading passions for the Lost Cause. The statue was known as the "most allegorical of Richmond's monuments." At this writing, the empty pedestal remains, including a significant spattering of vulgar graffiti. Workers took about three hours to lift the statue from the pedestal where it has stood since 1907. Confederate statues are covered in tarps while being stored at a waste water treatment plant near downtown Tuesday July 14, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The former capital, Richmond, Va., took down a statue of the Confederate general Stonewall Jackson last Wednesday after Mayor Levar Stoney used emergency powers to order its immediate removal, along with other Confederate statues on city property. Some residents thought the monument should be placed at the Arthur Ashe Athletic Center. [41] The City of Richmond began work to remove the city-controlled statues, beginning with the Stonewall Jackson monument, on July 1, 2020.