The Robert E. Lee statue in Oak Lawn Park is gone.
A crane arrived at about 4 p.m. The work crew estimated it was was about 30 minutes away from removing the statue on he first attempt more than a week ago. Work to remove the monument today took almost four hours.
During that time, the same group that filed a restraining order that stopped work last week filed an injunction today. But the court was already closed and work proceeded.
To get the statue loose, the crew had to hack, saw and ply away part of the base that the statue stood upon.
Sharpshooters stood around the statue as work proceeded. The sign on the crane identifying the company that owned it was blacked out.
Last week, the crane worked from the street. Today the crane and the trailer hauling it off parked directly next to the statue. Once placed on the bed of the truck, it was secured and hauled off, barely fitting through an underpass on Hall Street under the Katy Trail.