Alabama Attorney General sues Birmingham for hiding Confederate monument

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Attorney General's Office sued the city of Birmingham on Wednesday for erecting plywood around a monument to Confederate sailors and soldiers.

The city began placing the wood around the monument Tuesday evening, days after a white supremacist rally at a monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Va., led to violence.

In a statement Wednesday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the action violated a law passed by the Alabama Legislature this year aimed at preserving historic structures.

"My office has determined that by affixing tarps and placing plywood around the Linn Park Memorial such that it is hidden from view, the defendants have 'altered' or 'otherwise disturbed' the memorial in violation of the letter and spirit of the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act," Marshall said in a statement.

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The monument law, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Gerald Allen, passed the Legislature earlier this year. The legislation — first filed after Birmingham officials moved to remove the Linn Park monument in 2015 — prohibits the removal of alteration of historic monuments and “architecturally significant buildings” 40 years and older and requires cities to petition a newly created state committee to remove or alter those between 20 and 40 years old.

The law passed the Republican-dominated Legislature easily. Supporters said it was intended to preserve portions of state history, whether honorable or shameful.

But the law drew criticism from Democrats, ranging from the Confederacy's white supremacist foundations to the removal of local sovereignty. Some municipal officials also objected to a broad definition in the law of "architecturally significant building," which some municipal officials said would make redevelopment efforts difficult.

The office of Birmingham Mayor William Bell told the Associated Press that it was looking at ways to challenge the state law restricting the city’s authority to remove the memorial.