DALLAS (AP) - Dallas leaders have declared a Confederate statue surplus property and offered to sell it for a minimum $450,000 - what it cost to move the bronze artwork from public view.

The Dallas City Council on Wednesday designated the statue, of Robert E. Lee and a young soldier riding horses, available for sale to the highest bidder. The 1935 sculpture by Alexander Phimister Proctor was removed from a park in September 2017 and put in storage.

The statue was appraised at $950,000, which Dallas authorities say could pay for removal of the city's Confederate War Memorial.

The Dallas Landmark Commission in March approved a plan to disband the 123-year-old memorial complex, which critics say is racist and not historic. A 65-foot (19.81-meter) obelisk has stood over Pioneer Park Cemetery since 1961.

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