Maine’s Republican governor likened the removal of Confederate statues across the country to tearing down monuments to those who died in the terror attacks on Sept. 11.

“To me, it’s just like going to New York City right now and taking down the monument of those who perished in 9/11. It will come to that,” Gov. Paul LePage told Maine radio station ​WGAN-AM ​in an interview Thursday.

He also said​ ​left-wing activists who are calling for the removal of the statues ​across the country​ were ignorant of history and compared them to “the Taliban in Afghanistan.”

“How can future generations learn if we’re going to erase history? That’s disgusting,” LePage said. “They should study their history ​—​ they don’t even know the history of this country and they are trying to take monuments down. Listen, whether we like it or not, this is what our history is.”

Calls to take down the statues increased after white supremacist groups gathered in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend for a “Unite the Right” rally that was ostensibly intended to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a city park.

The gathering turned violence when the groups — which included the KKK and neo-Nazis — clashed with counter-protesters.

A woman was killed when a car plowed into a crowd of people opposing the hate groups.