NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A Confederate statue along an interstate in Tennessee that has drawn ire for years was dismantled Tuesday.
The 25-foot-tall (7.6-meter-tall) statue of early Ku Klux Klan leader and former Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest had stood on private property alongside Interstate 65, south of downtown Nashville, for more than two decades. Its removal comes just over a year after the death of property owner Bill Dorris.
The executor of the will is in the process of finalizing the distribution of assets and made the decision to remove the statue, news outlets reported.
The statue had been vandalized several times over the years, including being shot at multiple times, Dorris said in 2017 when it was doused with pink paint. At the time, he said he would leave the paint because it would draw more attention to the monument.
State Sen. Heidi Campbell of Nashville, who had tried previously to get the statue taken down, said she was excited that it was being dismantled.