June 8 (UPI) -- Workers in St. Louis began disassembling a massive Confederate monument that had become a target for vandals angry over what they view as its racist symbolism.
A spokesman for St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson said the decision was made to remove the 103-year-old monument to the Confederacy after residents petitioned to have it taken down. The massive granite structure, in the north side of Forest Park, weighs more than 40 tons.