Crowds argued and Confederate flags flew before a statue of Confederate Army Gen Robert E Lee ahead of its removal on May 19.

The statue is the last of four Confederate monuments that have been taken down in New Orleans in recent weeks.

The removals, which were approved in December 2016 by the New Orleans City Council, mark a “step in defining our City not by our past but by our bright future,” Mayor Mitch Landrieu said in a news release. “We will not allow the Confederacy to be put on a pedestal in the heart of New Orleans.”