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Baltimore To Preserve Battle Monument

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Lady Baltimore, the figure atop one of the nation's first war memorials, is getting a new home.

The Board of Estimates approved the nearly $150,000 Baltimore Battle Monument restoration project on Wednesday. The work coincides with the bicentennial of the War of 1812.

The fragile statue will be moved to the Walters Art Museum and a reproduction will be installed in its place. The four griffins that guard the monument will be reconstructed.

The monument, which sits in the middle of Calvert Street between the city's circuit courthouses, commemorates the 1814 Battle of Baltimore and is featured on the city seal. The 52-foot monument topped by Lady Baltimore holding a victory wreath was completed in 1825 and is thought to be the nation's oldest significant war memorial.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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