The oval granite pedestal was designed by the architect Walter Blair and on its side had the inscription "Robert Edward Lee" with the dates 1807 and 1870.

"[10] Local NAACP head Rick Turner supported removal, calling Lee a terrorist.

Others accused the council and Bellamy of disregarding Lee's historical significance, overlooking his importance to Virginia, sowing division, and trying to rewrite history.

[11][12] In April 2016, the City Council appointed a special commission, named the Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Monuments and Public Spaces, to recommend to city officials how to best handle issues surrounding the statues of Stonewall Jackson in Court Square and Lee in Lee Park, as well as other landmarks and monuments.

The lawsuit sought a temporary injunction to halt the removal, arguing that the City Council's decision violated a state law designed to protect veterans' monuments and memorials, in this case veterans of the American Civil War, and that the council had additionally violated the terms of McIntire's gift to Charlottesville of the statue and the land for Lee Park.

[16] The city responded by asking that the temporary injunction be denied, arguing that the two statues were not Confederate monuments and therefore outside the law's protection.

[19] On May 2, 2017, Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Richard Moore issued a temporary injunction blocking the removal of the Lee statue for six months, in the public's interest, pending his final decision in the suit.

[5] In December 2021, after the Lee statue's removal, the City Council approved a proposal to melt it down and repurpose the material for public art.

[25] Counter-protesters gathered the following day and held a silent candlelight vigil that attracted over a hundred of the town's citizens,[26][28] and Michael Signer, the mayor of Charlottesville.

[27][24] On July 8, 2017, the Ku Klux Klan held a rally in Charlottesville protesting the city's plan to remove the statue.

[29] On August 12, 2017, during the Unite the Right rally, clashes broke out between supporters of the statue, who marched under Confederate, American, and Revolutionary flags, and counter-protesters.

The council "also decided to direct the city manager to take an administrative step that would make it easier to eventually remove the Jackson statue.

[12] In 2018, the Lee statue was placed on the Make It Right Project's list of ten Confederate monuments it most wanted to see removed.

[41] In December 2021, the City Council approved a plan to melt down the statue and repurpose its material for public art.