A statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, which was removed by Dallas city officials four years ago, has emerged again, and this time at a private Texas resort, the local Houston Chronicle reported.
According to the report, the statue was purchased by Dallas-based law firm Holmes Firm PC for $1.44 million in an online auction in 2019 and is now on display at the 27,000-acre (about 109 sq km) Lajitas Golf Resort in Terlingua, Texas, not far from the border with Mexico.
The bronze effigy was described as "a fabulous piece of art" by the resort's manager, WSB Resorts and Clubs president Scott Beasley.
"I would say that of the 60-plus-thousand guests we host each year, we’ve had one or two negative comments," he is quoted in the report as saying. "I’d bet that 80 to 90 percent of the people that come to the resort take a picture of it."
However, while statue removals are a step in the right direction, they are only a "cosmetic demonstration of support," according to Dallas Black Lives Matter Houston activist Brandon Mack, also quoted in the report.
"If we really want to see true change, it’s got to be in policy in the dismantling of systems," he said.
According to the New York Post, the monument, created by artist Alexander Phimister Proctor in 1935, lay in storage until it was auctioned off at Hensley Field, a former Dallas naval air station.
The removal of Confederate statues became a trend last year, with more than 150 Confederate symbols and artworks reportedly removed, triggered by public outcry over the death of Black man George Floyd in police custody.