Officials Want To Move Confederate Statue To Rockville Park

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) -- Montgomery County officials say a 102-year-old statue of a Confederate soldier should be moved from outside a downtown courthouse to Rockville's Beall-Dawson Historical Park.

The county's Department of General Services Director David E. Dise told The Washington Post Wednesday the county will send a formal request to the Rockville City Council to place the monument at the nearby park.

County Executive Isiah Leggett announced in July that he wanted the statue removed. He said the monument, erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, was part of an effort to "rewrite history" by creating the impression that Maryland had seceded from the Union.

Confederate symbols have come under increased public scrutiny since the June 17 massacre of nine black worshippers at a church in Charleston, South Carolina.