The Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery will be dismantled this week

A man salutes after placing a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Arlington, Va. A Confederate memorial is to be removed from Arlington National Cemetery in northern Virginia in the coming days, part of the push to remove symbols that commemorate the Confederacy from military-related facilities, a cemetery official said Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)

A monument to Confederate soldiers is scheduled to be removed from Arlington National Cemetery by the end of the week.

The removal comes in response to legislation passed by Congress, and amidst efforts in recent years to take down symbols honoring slaveholders and Confederate leaders.

In 2021, Congress passed a law requiring the Department of Defense to look at removing “names, symbols, displays, monuments, or paraphernalia” commemorating the Confederacy.