Sad days for history...

[Geoff Walden]

These statues weren't there during the war but built well after it finished.

Not all. Some were erected right after the war, 1867-1869. Others were erected when the local communities finally had enough money, after the devastation of the war, which happened to be the late 19th and early 20th century. Those erected during this period had more to do with local economics than politics.