Lee Elementary School, 424 SW 29 in Oklahoma City, is named after famous Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. [Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman]

A bill to protect military monuments on public property has been altered in a way to preserve memorials to the Confederacy, a state senator says.

Senate Bill 970 was approved by the Senate last year and remains alive this legislative session.

Symbols of the Confederacy are sometimes controversial, with some people saying they are an objectionable tribute to those who supported slavery, while others say they venerate Americans who fought and died in the Civil War.

In its original version, the bill prohibited state and local government from renaming or removing structures or monuments that honor military figures or events for a list of military conflicts beginning with the first World War and ending with the second Persian Gulf War.