(CNN) The American Civil Liberties Union is urging Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee from public grounds in Richmond.

The request, according to a letter from the Virginia ACLU chapter , comes as the state's Department of General Services considers proposed regulations for protests and demonstrations at the monument to the Confederate general.

The state is seeking to replace emergency regulations with permanent rules that cut the maximum crowd size from 5,000 to 500 and ban weapons at permitted events, CNN affiliate WRIC reported

"If the Lee Monument were not located where it is now, there would be no need for these onerous (and, potentially, unconstitutional) regulations regarding the use of the grounds surrounding it," the ACLU said in a statement.

The organization called on the governor to use his executive power to remove the monument from state property.

Read More