Kentucky Confederate monument to be removed after 120 years

The stone monument honoring Kentuckians who died for the Confederacy in the Civil War will be moved to another location, University President James Ramsey and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said during a surprise announcement Friday.

Governments and universities across the country have re-evaluated displays of Confederate symbols following the racially motivated slayings last summer of nine black parishioners at the Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Jones wrote in a newspaper opinion piece last week that the statue is a "towering granite and bronze eyesore glorifying the nadir of America's past."

University and city officials have been working on the removal for several weeks and there was even construction equipment parked alongside the base of the monument on Friday during the announcement.