RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The last confederate statue on Richmond’s Monument Avenue is set to come down on Wednesday, Sep. 8. As crews prepare to remove the massive statue from its pedestal, police are preparing to close the street to traffic on Wednesday. There will be designated viewing areas set up for pedestrians. Below are images from the area around the statue on the eve of its removal.

Preparations underway as onlookers take their last glimpses of the Lee statue on Monument Avenue on Sept. 7, 2021. (Photo: Ben Dennis/WRIC)
A truck bearing a Confederate flag circled the monument on Tuesday. (Photo: Forrest Shelor/WRIC)
Crews on Tuesday laid the groundwork for Wednesday’s street closures. (Photos: Kerri O’Brien/WRIC)
Crew erect a barrier around the Lee Monument on Tuesday night, in preparation for the statue’s removal. (Photo: Ben Dennis/WRIC)
“No Parking” signs were posted in the area around the monument, which could potentially be up until Saturday night – but police say if all goes well, the regulation will be lifted much sooner. (Photo: Alex Thorson/WRIC)
  • (Photo: Alex Thorson/WRIC)
  • (Photo: Kerri O’Brien/WRIC)
Richmond residents stopped by the statue on Tuesday, many snapping one last photo of the statue before it’s taken down.

The removal comes over a year after protesters demanded the removal of the city’s Confederate monuments, as well as extensive police reforms. The Lee monument became a central rallying point and symbol of resistance after police fired tear gas into a peaceful crowd.

THE LEE MONUMENT: FROM 1890 TO TODAY

When the bronze statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee arrived from Paris in 1890 it took 10,000 men, women and children to move its pieces more than a mile to the site where the monument has stood for 130 years. (Photo courtesy of The Valentine)
The 1890 unveiling of the Lee statue in Richmond (Photo courtesy of The Valentine)
Protesters flooded Monument Avenue on June 2 in the wake of George Floyd’s death – calling for justice not only for Floyd, but also for Marcus David Peters, a Black man killed by Richmond Police in 2018. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Demonstrators in Richmond being tear-gassed
Peaceful demonstrators in Richmond were tear-gassed by Richmond Police on June 4, 2020 in advance of a citywide curfew following four nights of protest. (Still of WRIC drone footage)
blurred Robert E. Lee photo
Protesters with shields and gas masks waited for police action as they surround the Lee statue on June 23, 2020. The state ordered the area around the statue closed from sunset to sunrise, but the protesters had no plans to disperse. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
A hologram of George Floyd was displayed outside of the Robert E. Lee monument by Change.org and the George Floyd Foundation on July 28, 2020. (Photo: Emma North/WRIC)
George Floyd’s family spoke at the base of the Robert E. Lee monument on Tuesday, July 28 on the first stop of a weeklong tour held by Change.org and the George Floyd Foundation. (Photo: Emma North/WRIC)
Marcus David Peters sign
Community members unofficially renamed the Lee monument as Marcus David Peters Circle and erected a sign in the grassy area around the statue. The sign read, “Liberated by the people.” Peters was killed by a Richmond police officer in 2018 while having what his family called a mental health episode. The officer’s lethal actions were later deemed justified. (Photo: Autumn Childress/WRIC)
Robert E Lee
In January 2021, fencing was placed around the Robert E. Lee statue to prepare for its eventual removal. Some community members protested that move, which cut off public access to the area surrounding the monument. (Photo Delaney Hall/WRIC)