US military academy begins removal of Confederate memorials from campus

The elite military school is taking down monuments from its Hudson Valley, New York, site in accordance with Pentagon orders

The elite US military academy at West Point is removing Confederate monuments from its Hudson Valley campus in New York state, in accordance with a congressional review and orders set in motion by the Pentagon.

The removal, which includes a portrait of Gen Robert E Lee in Confederate uniform, began on 18 December. The academy, America's oldest, said the operation to either take down or modify displays memorializing the Confederacy would be a multi-phased process".