Statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee removed from Richmond, Virginia

A statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee was removed from its pedestal in Virginia's capital city Wednesday morning. The 21-foot-tall statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond was one of the largest remaining Confederate monuments in the U.S. — and has long drawn protests as a symbol of racial injustice.

It took crews roughly an hour to remove the statue from its 40-foot pedestal, according to CBS affiliate WTVR. Large crowds cheered as they watched the statue come down.  In a statement, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam noted that the statue of Lee was the last Confederate statue remaining on Monument Avenue. Officials in Richmond have removed more than a dozen other Confederate statues on city land over the past year.