Descendant of Robert E. Lee Joins Fight to Have Confederate Statue Removed 16237 People from all backgrounds are coming together to get a statue of Robert E. Lee removed from a North Carolina site. Including one descendant of the confederate war general. Rev. Robert Wright “Rob” Lee IV, the fourth great-nephew of Robert E. Lee joined a multiracial lawsuit filed on Tuesday to have his great uncle’s statue removed from the Government Center in downtown Statesville, The Raleigh News & Observer reports. The group includes local residents and organizations who are all against a monument of the Confederacy’s commanding general being on display at the former county courthouse. Lee added a personal statement with the lawsuit where he called his great uncle’s statue “a celebration of white supremacy and racism.”