The Daughters of the Confederacy lets anyone use the square it owns in downtown Tuskegee, Alabama.

But because of their history, Mayor Johnny Ford wants to seize their property.

“We respect Southern heritage,” Ford insists to WSFA. “The way you resolve a disagreement is to take it to court.”

The Confederate group has owned the property for decades, and it wasn’t until the recent hysteria over the Confederate flag that the city began mulling a way to take their property.

Specifically, the city doesn’t like a statue of a Confederate soldier on the property.

Ford wants to move the statue out of the park and to a museum or a Confederate cemetery. “That’s where it will be revered and respected,” Ford claims.

First, Ford approached the group, asking them to just give their property to the city. They refused. Now he’s kicking it up a notch.

The Tuskegee City Council voted to condemn the property, “Because the town square is owned by the Daughters of the Confederacy,” Ford tells Alabama News.

The Daughters of the Confederacy group is on defense, trying to protect its private property rights.

Alabama Division President Linda Edwards says she’s called a meeting to discuss the property issue. “Once we have this meeting, I will get back in touch with you and discuss how the ladies feel,” she tells the mayor.

He’s not taking “no” for an answer.

“The thing to do would be for them to simply donate it back to the city for a dollar or if they do not wish to do that, then we will proceed with condemnation and the courts can determine the fair market share,” Ford says.

Then the group could decide whether to be paid or watch the government seize its property for nothing.