The announcement marks a reversal in course from September, when the statue was removed but the Democratic governor said the 40-foot-tall (12-meter-tall) pedestal, currently covered in graffiti, would stay.
His administration also announced plans to transfer ownership of the grassy island in the middle of a traffic circle where the statue was located to the city of Richmond. The move comes about a month before Northam leaves office and Republican Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin, who has expressed less enthusiasm about the statue’s removal, is sworn in.
“In 2020, we can no longer honor a system that was based on the buying and selling of enslaved people,” he said when announcing his decision to remove the statue.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/05/virginia-robert-lee-statue-pedestal-523773