ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Fearing a safety hazard, officials in Athens removed the top half of a Civil War monument after realizing it apparently rotated off-center from its base.
The Athens Banner-Herald (https://bit.ly/1e1aM0Q ) reports that county crews removed a flowerlike capital topping the structure and a 5-foot-tall tapering piece of granite on Thursday.
Multi-section monuments are usually anchored with metal dowels. However, work crews say it appears the top section of the monument had simply rested on the base.
County facilities manager Robert Baird said he suspected that vibrations from traffic gradually worked the top of the monument out of its original position. Workers plan to install metal dowels and reassemble the monument.
It was built in the 1870s and is inscribed with the names of Athens residents killed in the Civil War.
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Information from: Athens Banner-Herald, https://www.onlineathens.com
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