CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Descendants of a Confederate veteran who sculpted a 32-foot monument to the Confederacy at Arlington National Cemetery want it removed.

More than 20 descendants of sculptor Moses Jacob Ezekiel wrote a letter to The Washington Post urging the Confederate Memorial be moved from its place of honor at the cemetery and placed in a museum or some other place "that makes clear its oppressive history."

The memorial was dedicated in 1914 and depicts Rebel soldiers and enslaved blacks.

In their letter, published Friday, the descendants say the memorial "glorifies the fight to own human beings."

Descendant Judith Ezekiel told The Post that her family was horrified by the violence last week in Charlottesville, which began with a right-wing rally in defense of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.