Statue of Confederate General Lee removed from Virginia pedestal

The statue is one of America’s largest monuments to the Confederacy (Steve Helber, Pool/AP)

A crowd erupted in cheers and song as crews hoisted a statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee off the giant pedestal where it has towered over the US state of Virginia’s capital city for more than a century.

The statue, one of America’s largest monuments to the Confederacy, was lifted away as one of the construction workers who helped strap harnesses to Lee and his horse lifted his arms in the air and counted down, “Three, two, one!” to jubilant shouts from a crowd of hundreds.