Confederate general statue melted down to be turned into works of art

A bronze ingot melted from the statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee is shown during a news conference (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)

A statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee that was a focal point of a deadly white nationalist protest in 2017 has been melted down and will be repurposed into works of art.

The Jefferson School African American Heritage Centre, a Charlottesville-based black history museum, said that the statue had been destroyed.