The Department of Veterans Affairs has reportedly spent millions of dollars guarding Confederate cemeteries across the U.S.

The VA hired private security guards to watch over at least eight Confederate cemeteries after the deadly clash last year between white nationalists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Associated Press reported .

The security measures, which are in place in the hopes of preventing more violence, are enforced 24 hours a day at all the cemeteries except at one in Chicago. Since the security measures have been enacted, there have been no reports of vandalism at any of the locations.

Records obtained by AP reveal that the VA has spent almost $3 million on the cemeteries' security since August 2017 and an additional $1.6 million for security at all Confederate monuments is allocated for fiscal 2019.

Jessica Schiefer, spokeswoman for the VA's National Cemetery Administration, told AP that the security is necessary "to ensure the safety of staff, property and visitors paying respect to those interred," and that the VA "has a responsibility to protect the federal property it administers and will continue to monitor and assess the need for enhanced security going forward."

The guarded locations include North Alton and Oak Woods Confederate cemeteries in Illinois ; Springfield National Cemetery in Missouri ; Finns Point National Cemetery in New Jersey ; The Woodlawn Cemetery and Conservancy in New York ; Camp Chase and Johnson's Island Confederate cemeteries in Ohio ; and Point Lookout Confederate Cemetery in Virginia .

According to AP, the monuments in the cemeteries do not celebrate the Confederacy, rather they serve to memorialize those who died. However, in August 2017, a bronze statue of a rebel soldier standing in the Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery was pulled down and the head was removed. Following that incident, the VA hired unarmed security guards for the Ohio, Illinois and New York cemeteries at a cost of $91,357 for a one-month contract.

When a statue in Springfield was vandalized a few days later, the VA hired another security guard for the Missouri cemetery, as well as four others. According to the documents, the VA spent about $462,500 through the end of October 2017 on security at all the locations. It then agreed to a yearlong contract with security company Westmoreland Protection Agency for $2.3 million.