Confederate monument removed from outside Howard County courthouse

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. - (AP) -- A Confederate memorial has been removed from outside a Maryland courthouse.

Photos posted on Howard County Executive Allan H. Kittleman's Facebook show the memorial outside the Circuit Court in Ellicott City being removed Monday night and placed onto a truck.

Kittleman said the "more appropriate place for the memorial is in a museum, along with other artifacts and information on the Civil War."

Criticism of Confederate monuments has been intensifying since a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia turned violent after white nationalists opposed to the city's plan to remove a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee clashed with counter protesters.

The removal of the memorial in Ellicott City comes about a week after Baltimore pulled down its Confederate monuments under the cover of night.