SALISBURY, N.C. -- The Confederate monument, Fame, in the heart of Salisbury will be removed.

Tuesday night, the city council voted to move the statue to Lutheran Cemetery and work with the United Daughters of the Confederacy on the placement. For years, the monument has been the center of an ongoing historical debate and council members announced last week that they were in talks of figuring out its next steps with the figure.

Dozens of speakers virtually signed in for the council meeting and for speakers like Nanci Gaines, the statue isn’t just about art, but about history - history she believes doesn’t need to be the focus of the town.

“It took me a long time to realize my Confederate ancestors were not heroes. It’s time for all of us to stop perpetuating this myth,” she said. “I support the proposed plan to move the statue to the Confederate cemetery. This plan places the statue in the appropriate context - places the statue with the dead it memorializes. It preserves history without glorifying the myth.”

Other speakers like Isaiah Dulin believe the conversation is only stoked by the recent racial tension.

“What happened to white lives matter? What happened to Hispanic lives matter? That does not matter. Black people have more privileges in this country than any other race combined. And this statue has nothing to do with black lives. This is about Confederate heritage.”

The council declared Fame a public safety crisis and must be moved in 30 days.