I guess this counts as Breaking News regarding the Civil War:

Alexander Phimister Proctor's 1935 sculpture Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Soldier, which Dallas City Hall snatched out of the former Lee Park in September 2017, sold Wednesday morning for more than $1 million.

To be exact, the winning bid was $1,435,000. Assuming the winning bidder doesn't come up short when the bill comes due. (But the city required all bidders to put down a $50,000 deposit just to participate. To make sure, you know, they were serious).

That top-dollar amount is far higher than the $450,000 reserve set by council members last month, when they declared the sculpture "surplus property." And way more than the $950,000 value at which City Hall had appraised the statue a month ago.

I cannot (yet) tell you the winner's name: The moniker by which the winning bidder goes is only LawDude. All I can say for certain is that he or she desperately wanted the sculpture — for what purposes, we do not yet know. Perhaps to display with pride; maybe to melt. Hard to say.

The sprint to the finish line was certainly something to behold.

For almost two days, bidding was stuck at $557,5000, courtesy of MustangJerry. Then, around 11 this morning, with 30 minutes left on the clock, I refreshed the Lone Star Auctioneers' site and noticed a mystery guest — FTX09 — appeared from nowhere to put the ante to $607,500. Within seconds, MustangJerry upped the ante to $610,000.

At which point, things got nuts.

Until Wednesday morning, the city had received all of 10 bids on the sculpture since May 26. By 11:46 a.m. Wednesday, that number had surged to 84 courtesy of LawDude and MustangJerry, neither of whom appeared willing to give up on a statue the council says they can't display publicly (if they live in Dallas, anyway). City officials watching the bidding were floored by the back-and-forth, which extended well beyond the 11:30 cutoff as the bids kept coming in.

As the bidding climbed higher and higher, I called Jennifer Scripps, director of the Office of Cultural Affairs and the woman who guided the mayor's Confederate monuments task force. I got her while she was in the car.

Crew members worked to remove the Robert E. Lee statue at the now-former Lee Park in Dallas on Sept. 14, 2017. (File Photo / Staff)

"I was literally preparing an item for the council agenda when staff called and said, 'Are you watching?'" she said. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh!' I could not believe it. On the other hand, two people with means feel very strongly about this piece, and it can go on their private land somewhere. But I cannot believe it."

Which means you can stop complaining about the cost to remove the statue, which has been in storage at Hensley Field since it was hauled out of the park. And the base. And the Confederate War Memorial.

The city says it cost $450,000 to give Lee a ride out of Oak Lawn, and another $200,000 to remove the base. City officials are also finalizing a contract to remove the Confederate War Memorial from Pioneer Park Cemetery in front of the downtown convention center. That will cost around $500,000, said Joey Zapata, an assistant city manager.

Which leaves $285,000.

"The removals were all funded through the contingency reserve, and this money will go back there to replace it — with a little on top," Zapata said as the clock struck "completed" on the auction.

Activist John Fullinwider, a Dallas native, had advocated for the removal of the Lee statue long before it was hauled off in the fall of 2017. Four years ago, he led what he called its "un-dedication," and demanded Dallas erase monuments erected by pro-Confederate groups looking to "rewrite the cause of the Civil War," making it about states' rights rather than the right to keep slaves. He's been at every meeting concerning the fate of these sculptures and statues, and sent word Wednesday afternoon as soon as he heard of its final sale price.

"LawDude may find he's purchased an endlessly traveling exhibit," Fullinwider said. "Because wherever this statue lands, people of conscience will protest it -- and the godforsaken legacy it honors."

Now the only thing standing in the way of the memorial's removal is a lawsuit working its way through state District Judge Eric V. Moyé's court. But after getting the Landmark Commission and City Plan Commission's approval, city staff will move ahead regardless — keeping the court and city attorneys informed, of course, said Zapata.

But the city is hoping to "begin work expeditiously" on the memorial's removal, Zapata said. Maybe the city can auction it off, too. Seeing as how at least two people out there are willing to war over monuments honoring the Lost Cause.

All Zapata could say was: "We're very, very happy the Lee sculpture exceeded its estimate value."

"And again, this is more about making sure we got that value and the city got back its funding we've spent and will spend on all of this," Zapata said.

We should have done this years ago.