Anti-racism protesters tear down Richmond Howitzers Monument

Demonstrators in Richmond tore down another Confederate statue in the city Tuesday night, news outlets reported.

The Howitzers Monument located near Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park campus was toppled after protesters who spent the night marching in the rain used a rope to pull it down from its pedestal.

The paint-splattered statue was seen face down on the ground as the rain continued overnight in Virginia’s capital city, according to a video from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Before its toppling, the Howitzers Monument showed a Confederate artilleryman standing in front of a gun. It was erected in 1892 to memorialise the city’s Civil War artillery unit, according to the Encyclopedia of Virginia.

It's the third Confederate statue and the fourth monument to be torn down by demonstrators in Virginia since international protests erupted following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after he was pinned to the pavement by a white Minneapolis officer who pressed his knee into Floyd's neck.

Statues of Confederate president Jefferson Davis and Confederate General Williams Carter Wickham, as well as a statue of Christopher Columbus, were toppled by demonstrators in recent weeks.

READ MORE: Black Lives Matter protesters tear down Jefferson Davis statue

St Louis removes Columbus statue

A statue of Christopher Columbus has been removed from a St Louis park, officials said on Tuesday, the latest monument taken down in response to nationwide protests over racial inequality.

Television images showed workers using a crane to yank the statue off its pedestal in Tower Grove Park and place it on a flatbed truck. Officials have not said where the statue will be taken.

Native American activists have long objected to honouring Columbus, saying his expeditions to the Americas led to the colonisation and genocide of their ancestors.

The Tower Grove Park's board of commissioners said in a written statement that when the Columbus statue was erected 140 years ago, "its purpose was to celebrate the contributions of immigrants in this region".

"But now, for many, it symbolises a historical disregard for indigenous peoples and cultures and destruction of their communities," the commissioners wrote.

Several statues of Columbus have been removed across the US in recent weeks, along with monuments honouring those who fought for the South in the US Civil War.

Detroit on Monday took down a Columbus statue at the entrance of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and placed it in storage, officials said. Officials in West Orange, New Jersey, said this week they will remove a Columbus monument.