The only statue of a Confederate general in the nation’s capital was pulled down by ropes and chains and then lit on fire on Juneteenth 2020 by demonstrators protesting the murder of George Floyd.
The bronze statue of Pike, dedicated in 1901, was authorized by Congress and honors the leader’s more than 30 years as the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Scottish Freemasonry.
Over the years, members of the D.C. government tried to have the statue removed, including in 1992, when the D.C. Council petitioned the federal government.
The statue’s return to the Judiciary Square neighborhood in the District is thanks to President Donald Trump’s executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”
In August, the National Park Service issued a statement about the Pike statue, saying, “The restoration aligns with federal responsibilities under historic preservation law as well as recent executive orders to beautify the nation’s capital and re-instate pre-existing statues.”
The statue of Pike sits on the corner of 3rd and D Street NW in a park by the headquarters of the D.C. police.
As of Sunday, the statue, along with two John Deere cherry pickers, was surrounded by a chain-link fence.
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