ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla — In Downtown St. Augustine, two Confederate memorials were removed this week.
On Monday morning, a crane lifted and removed one of them from state land. It was the memorial to Confederate Gen. William Loring.
Two days later, a crane lifted the top off of another Confederate memorial on city property.
Both projects were done in the morning, when it was dark outside.
The timing seemed odd to some people. Were the city and state trying to hide the process? Both say: Absolutely not.
Let’s start with the Loring Memorial, which was on land managed by the University of Florida.
There was no announcement about the memorial’s departure schedule.
The relocation company vice president told First Coast News his crew was on site at 4 a.m., expecting the removal process to last until noon. He said it took less time than he thought and the memorial was on its way out of town by 6:30 a.m.
"The reason we did it that way was to keep from being disruptive," said Steve Orlando, a spokesman for the University of Florida. "The monument was located in the middle of Downtown St. Augustine. We wanted to do it in a way that caused as little disruption as possible to traffic."
Now to the other, taller memorial just a block away. It’s the one with the names of locals who died fighting for the Confederacy.
The 10-ton obelisk, or top piece, was lifted off two days later on Wednesday. That task was also finished by 7 a.m.
It was supposed to be done the afternoon before. But the crane company was three-to-four hours late and was not ready to do that job until about 6 p.m.
City of St. Augustine Spokesperson Melissa Wissel said, "The crane got here late, so we had to adjust."
The man in charge of the relocation company, a separate business from the crane company, did not want to have his crew – who had been working in the heat all day – doing that delicate but heavy project and risking their own health.
Wissel agreed "health and safety was also a factor." She said a decision was made to lift off the top of the memorial the next morning, before the crane moved to other jobs.
"I can, without a doubt, say there was not any kind of intent to be doing this and it appear to be in the dark of night. Absolutely not. It was truly timing and the availability of the crane operator," Wissel said.
She said the city is not trying to hide anything with this project.
"It was 6 in the morning. It’s wasn’t 2 in the morning. The lights were on. The plaza lights were on," Wissel added.
She says the base of the city’s memorial is still in place. It and its tall obelisk could possibly be moved next week, she added.
The Loring memorial was taken to Trout Creek Fish Camp, about 20 miles away. The other memorial will be taken there as well.