Politics

St. Louis And Museum Argue Over Who Gets To Remove Confederate Monument

REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman

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Rob Shimshock Education Reporter
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A Missouri museum sued St. Louis Friday over ownership of a Confederate monument in the city. Both parties want to remove the memorial, but insist upon their sole ownership.

The Missouri Civil War Museum sued St. Louis and filed a temporary restraining order, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The museum asserts it will remove the statue from the city’s Forest Park by Friday June 23, with no cost to taxpayers provided the city acknowledges its ownership.

“If you decide to challenge our ownership of this monument that will of course have to result in immediate legal action being taken to prove our ownership,” said Mark Trout, director of the Missouri Civil War Museum, in a letter sent to St. Louis mayor Lyda Krewson.

The museum alleges that the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a group dedicated to honoring Confederate soldiers via monuments, gifted the monument to the museum on June 13.

“Please note, our objective is the same as yours and that is to immediately remove this historic monument from your park property and remove it permanently from the city limits of St. Louis,” wrote Trout to the city. “We will guarantee that the monument will never be re-erected for permanent display within St. Louis City or St. Louis County, Missouri.”

But the museum says that if the city disputes the museum’s ownership, the removal will be delayed.

“It is our position that the city controls the monument,” said Koran Addo, spokesman for Mayor Krewson, in a statement obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “The plan is to remove the monument and place it in City storage. At some point, the City will consider proposals from parties interested in taking ownership or displaying the monument. The Civil War Museum is welcome to submit a proposal at that time.”

The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to Addo and the museum for further comment but received none in time for publication. (RELATED: New Orleans Uproots Third Confederate Statue In Early Morning Operation)

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