Thousands of people have signed a petition to replace a Confederate monument in Virginia with a statue of rapper Missy Elliott.

Nearly 8,500 people signed the petition which calls for the Confederate monument in Olde Towne, Portsmouth, to be removed and replaced with something which "encapsulates the culture and spirit of the city".

The author of the petition said Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott was the best person to represent the city's culture.

According to the author, "Missy is all of us" and represents "everything the Confederacy was not".

An artist and music producer, Melissa Arnette Elliott was born in Portsmouth in 1971.

"Hailing from humble beginnings as the only child of a power company dispatcher and a welder at Portsmouth's lauded naval shipyard, she rose to become a platinum recording artists with over 30 million albums sold. All this without even once owning a slave," the petition reads.

It adds: "Together we can put white supremacy down, flip it and reverse it."

The Confederate monument in Portsmouth, Virginia (Doug Kerr/Creative Commons ) (Doug Kerr/Creative Commons)

The petition will be delivered to Portsmouth mayor John L Rowe if it reaches 10,000 signatures.

It comes after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned violent last weekend. Since that event, many communities in towns and municipalities across the country have seen a renewed sense of urgency to remove Confederate monuments.

The debate around Confederate statues has led an old divide to resurface between those who believe they represent Southern heritage and should be preserved and those who argue they represent a violent and racist history and should be removed.

Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism.

In Charlottesville, discussions over plans to keep the statue of Confederate leader General Robert E Lee led to the clash of the white supremacist rally and counter-rally and the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

Now campaigns and protests for the statues to be removed have spread throughout the country. In Baltimore, Maryland, four statues were removed over night following a unanimous decision by the city's authorities and in Lexington, Kentucky, statues are set to be moved from their prominent places outside the courthouse.