On Thursday night, Fairfax County removed several Civil War markers, monuments, and historical artifacts commemorating the Confederacy from outside the county’s judicial complex.

Fairfax County Chairman Jeff McKay tweeted on Friday that the artifacts were removed in an effort to “better reflect our values.”

https://twitter.com/JeffreyCMcKay/status/1324761204041097227

The markers and artifacts removed include a monument honoring the first Confederate soldier to be killed by a Union soldier, a historical marker commemorating a June 1, 1861 battle, and two Dahlgren howitzers.

These artifacts will be kept in a county warehouse pending donation to other historical organizations and sites. The monument will go to the Stuart Mosby Historical Society in Centreville, per a 9 to 1 Fairfax Board of Supervisors vote last month. The heavy Dahlgren howitzers are going to a Manassas Battlefield, and the historical marker will be given to the state of Virginia.

The removal of the artifacts was estimated to cost about $20,000, according to board minutes from October 20.

“I’m glad we were able to move forward and remove these Confederate monuments,” McKay writes in a statement to DCist/WAMU. “We need to ensure that in our courthouse – our place of fair justice – we are intentionally ensuring that symbols matter, reflect our values, and chart a more positive course forward.”

This is the most recent Confederate statue-removal that takes advantage of a relatively new Virginia law allowing local jurisdictions to decide what to do with Confederate monuments in their communities. Prior, localities were not allowed to remove, modify or add historical context to markers or memorials without approval from Virginia’s General Assembly.

Virginia had the second-most Confederate memorials of any state in the country (behind only Georgia) as of February 2019, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Many of the statues were erected in the late 1800s and early 1900s during a time of heightened public interest in Civil War commemoration.

This story has been updated with a statement from Fairfax County Chairman Jeff McKay.