A 25-year-old man has been arrested in Houston for allegedly attempting to plant a bomb near a local Confederate monument.

The Houston FBI announced on Monday that they had arrested Andrew Schneck in connection with an incident in front of the General Richard Dowling Monument in Hermann Park two days before.

Mr Schneck is believed to have been carrying items capable of producing a viable explosive device. He has been charged with attempting to maliciously damage or destroy property.

Officials say a Houston park ranger caught Mr Schneck kneeling near the statue of the Confederate general on Saturday. Prosecutors claim he was carrying two boxes with duct tape and wires, and a bottle with liquid that could be used to make explosives.

Officials conducted a raid on a Houston home on Sunday, bringing in tools often used to handle homemade bombs. In a press conference on Monday, police confirmed they were attempting to recover "significant hazardous materials".

Sources told local news station KPRC2 that authorities had searched the same house four years before, looking for materials that could be used to make nerve gas or tear gas. Less than a year later, Mr Shneck, who lived in the house with his parents, was convicted for improper storage of explosive material. He was sentenced to five years of probation and a $159,000 fine.

Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism.

Confederate statues have become a flash point in the US, after white supremacists held a rally in Virginia to protest their removal. Confederates fought in the US Civil War in order to preserve the practise of slavery.

The University of Texas removed four such statues from its Austin campus on Monday, after the university president declared them "symbols of modern white supremacy and neo-Nazism".

In Durham, North Carolina, protesters took matters into their own hands and tore down a Confederate statue themselves.

“I chose to [pull down the statue] because I am tired of living in fear,” one Durham protester, who is black, told reporters. “I am tired of white supremacy keeping its foot on my neck and the neck of people who look like me.”

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has condemned the removal of the statues, deeming it "so foolish".