TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on the removal of a Confederate statute in Florida (all times local):
11:15 a.m.
Crews are removing a Confederate statue that is a memorial to men of the Gainesville, Florida, area who lost their lives in the Civil War.
Work began Sunday to remove the statue in downtown Gainesville, known as “Old Joe.” The Gainesville Sun reported it would be moved from outside the Alachua County Administrative Building Monday.
The statue is being returned to the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which erected the bronze statue in 1904.
County officials said they did not know where the statue would be going.
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10:55 a.m.
Authorities in Florida say someone splashed red paint around a Confederate memorial park.
Hillsborough County sheriff’s officials said in a news release that a passer-by called 911 after seeing that paint had been tossed on and around the memorial’s columns and derogatory comments were scrawled in paint. The site is on private property near Tampa on Florida’s west coast.
Other Confederate memorials in the area been targeted as well.
Hillsborough County commissioners voted on July 19 to remove a different monument in the county, this one in downtown Tampa and on county property, after several heated meetings filled with public discussion.
On Wednesday, the commission is scheduled to discuss the monument again with an update on the relocation.