A controversial history that includes the Ku Klux Klan is etched on the bronze triptych at one of the entrances to Bartlett Hall, at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The triptych was completed by famed sculptor Laura Gardin Fraser and installed at the prestigious military academy in 1965, just a year before her death. It turns out that the central panel includes several controversial representations, such as a hooded "Ku Klux Klan" member holding a gun, a "carpet bagger", slaves and slave-drivers. (It also includes the Tree of Life, an ancient symbol, by the way.)

For nearly 60 years military cadets walked past this door, possibly unaware of the Ku Klux Klan representation, but last summer, the Naming Commission flagged this artwork as problematic. Meantime, the Commission also identified 12 other "assets" — plaques, monuments, statues, etc . — as well as three such assets at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Following this controversy, the Academy has just announced that the triptych, as well as several other statues and images, will be duly removed from campus during the Christmas holiday break.