An armed man wearing a tie-dye T-shirt tried to slash away the black drape placed over a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville on Wednesday.

As onlookers tried to dissuade him, the man slashed at the black tarp covering the statue, but was only able to cut at about shoulder height.

“People have died!” a woman said angrily. “Does that mean nothing to you?”

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Someone is cutting down the shroud on the Lee statue in #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/3vtlCF5STW — Lauren Berg (@laurenbergk) August 23, 2017

Witnesses report that the man was carrying a gun.

Armed man cuts shroud draped over Lee statue in Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/GQlkYsWsFb — Justin Miller (@justinjm1) August 23, 2017

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The man called covering the statue a “desecration” and said that anti-racist protester Heather Heyer was killed because she was “playing in traffic.”

Man is calling the shroud of the Lee statue in #Charlottesville "desecration" pic.twitter.com/ZuWdGJYDez — Lauren Berg (@laurenbergk) August 23, 2017