Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) claims that 7,600 Maine residents fought in the Confederate army during the Civil War, according to a report by Portland Press Herald — but the number's accuracy has been called into question.

LePage claimed on a radio broadcast Tuesday that 7,600 farmers from the northern state fought for the Confederacy because they were "concerned about their land, their property."

The Maine Historical Society wasn't so sure, but couldn't confirm or deny the number.

"There's no way to say he's right or wrong, but it's not a number I'd go with," Jamie Rice of the Maine Historical Society told the Herald.

According to Rice, roughly 72,000 Maine residents fought with the Union.

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LePage was on air to discuss the removal of Confederate monuments, a recent hot topic being debated across the nation after protests over a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee lead to deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va., earlier this month.

The governor condemned racist groups at Charlottesville protest, as well as counterprotesters. “I think what they are standing for is equally as bad, they are trying to erase history,” he said on another radio program. “How can future generations learn if we are going to erase history, that’s disgusting.”