Alabama city takes down Confederate monument -- and gets immediately sued by state's attorney general

The city of Birmingham, Alabama this week removed a massive obelisk that's dedicated to the memory of soldiers who died for the Confederacy during the American civil war, only to be sued one day later by the state's attorney general.

In an action filed on Tuesday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall alleged that Birmingham violated the 2017 Alabama Memorial Preservation Act aimed at preventing city governments from removing Confederate monuments.

At issue is the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument, which was taken down this week after it had become the target of vandalism during protests for the killing of George Floyd.

The Alabama AG's office is demanding that the city pay a $25,000 fine for the removal of the monument, which is the standard fine for violating the Memorial Preservation Act.

Birmingham already paid a $25,000 fine once this year for obstructing views of the monument by constructing a plywood screen around it.