Robert E. Lee statue for sale by Dallas draws $1.4M bid

DALLAS – A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee has drawn a bid of more than $1.4 million as Dallas seeks to sell the bronze sculpture that civil rights advocates call racist.

The Lone Star Auctioneers Inc. website says online bidding ended Wednesday. The top offer, of $1,435,000, was from a bidder identified only as LawDude.

The Dallas City Council last month designated the sculpture by Alexander Phimister Proctor as surplus property.

The artwork, depicting Lee and another soldier on horses, was unveiled in 1936. Dallas required a minimum bid of $450,000, which was the cost to remove the statue from a park in September 2017 and for storage.

The auction house Wednesday referred questions to the city. A message left with the Dallas public information office wasn’t immediately returned.