In a significant step towards the removal of Confederate symbols from US military facilities, officials have announced the upcoming removal of the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. According to Kerry Meeker, spokesperson for Arlington National Cemetery, the monument is anticipated to be completely removed by December 22, in accordance with a Department of Defense directive issued in October last year.

Operating the cemetery, the Army stated on their website that the process to prepare for the monument's removal, including an environmental assessment, was completed on Saturday. The examination concluded that the removal of the monument "will not have significant environmental impacts," as confirmed by officials.

To ensure the safety of the operation, crews have installed safety fencing around the monument, while the surrounding landscape, graves, and headstones will be protected during the removal process, as stated by Meeker.

While the bronze elements of the monument will be relocated, the granite base and foundation will remain at the site to avoid disruption to the surrounding graves, cemetery officials have announced.

According to historical records provided by the cemetery, Confederate remains were not permitted to be buried at Arlington until 1900, 35 years after the conclusion of the Civil War. Since then, a specially designated section known as Section 16 has become the resting place for over 400 Confederate bodies.

The Confederate Memorial, unveiled in 1914, is a prominent structure designed by American sculptor Moses Jacob Ezekiel. It features a bronze woman atop a 32-foot-tall pedestal, adorned with a crown embellished with olive leaves. In her hands, she holds a laurel wreath, a plow stock, and a pruning hook. A Biblical inscription, "They have beat their swords into plough-shares and their spears into pruning hooks," is located at the base of the statue.

Notably, the monument also includes depictions of a Black woman referred to as a "Mammy," carrying the infant of a white officer, and a Black man following his owner to war, as specified by the cemetery.

However, not everyone is in agreement with the decision to remove the statue. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, expressed his disappointment with the removal and has proposed relocating it to the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park in the Shenandoah Valley, citing it as a suitable backdrop to honor Ezekiel's legacy.

Last September, the US Congressional Naming Commission recommended the removal of the Confederate statue at Arlington National Cemetery.

This development comes a year after West Point took down several Robert E. Lee items, including a portrait and a stone bust of the Confederate general.

As the removal of the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery draws near, it marks another step in the ongoing efforts to address the legacy of Confederate symbolism in the United States.