SALISBURY, N.C. – After several years of petitions, debates, and vandalism, the Fame Confederate monument in downtown Salisbury is no longer standing in the heart of the city.

Fame was moved from the center of town to the Old Lutheran Cemetery overnight Monday. The statue depicts an angel holding a wounded Confederate soldier. It was built in 1909.

On May 31, a man fired two shots in the air in front of the statue, this incident lead to the Salisbury police chief declaring it a public safety risk. The Salisbury City Council voted twice, unanimously, to move the monument and has worked with the monument’s owners, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, to create this plan to safely move Fame away from the town center.

 Roads near Innes and Main Streets were closed until Tuesday morning for crews to remove the monument and the construction area was also off limits to pedestrians.