Crews could be seen working to remove three Confederate-linked statues from Virginia's Capitol Square on Friday morning after a state senator introduced legislation to remove them earlier this year.
Watch: Virginia senator proposes removing Confederate statues from Capitol Square: 'It's embarrassing'
The statues depict Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, two-time Virginia Governor and former Confederate General William "Extra Billy" Smith — whose second term as governor came at the end of the Civil War — and Confederate Army surgeon Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire.
Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) introduced legislation earlier this year to remove the statues. His bill was one of a handful targeting Confederate iconography brought to the General Assembly this year.
Though the bill died, lawmakers revived the issue in the budget and allocated money for the removals.
In a statement, the Department of General Services (DGS) said it will facilitate the removal of the statues, which have been gifted by the Commonwealth of Virginia to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation.
