STATUES of Robert E Lee and other prominent Confederate figures were taken down from the main area of a university campus just hours after its president ordered them to be taken down because such monuments have become “symbols of modern white supremacy and neo-Nazism”.

Crews worked through the night at the University of Texas at Austin, amid a heavy police presence. The school blocked off the area, and some arguments occurred among those gathered. However, all the statues of Lee, Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston and Confederate Postmaster General John H Reagan were successfully taken down.

By late Monday morning, people walking by were stopping to stare at the four empty pedestals. Some snapped selfies, while a few climbed up the structures where the statues once stood.

But the scene remained peaceful and the area largely deserted. The university does not begin classes until next week.

President Greg Fenves said the statues would be moved to the Briscoe Centre for American History on campus. In 2015, the university moved a statue of former Confederate President Jefferson Davis from its perch near the campus clock tower, the same area as the other statues, to the history museum.

The debate over public memorials for Confederate figures roared into national conversation last week after the clash between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a woman was killed and 19 people were injured when a car drove into a crowd.

Fenves,who discussed the statues’ removal with students, faculty members, staff members and alumni, said: “The horrific displays of hatred at the University of Virginia and in Charlottesville shocked and saddened the nation. These events make it clear, now more than ever, that Confederate monuments have become symbols of modern white supremacy and neo-Nazism.

“The historical and cultural significance of the Confederate statues on our campus – and the connections that individuals have with them – are severely compromised.”