Auction of 9/11 Steel Halted in Virginia

Beams from the North Towers of the World Trade Center rise up to the sky. An American flag is attached to them.
Beams from the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Copyright, The Roanoke Times, reprinted by permission.

The auction of a 9/11 memorial in Salem, Va. has been stopped after 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels urged halting the sale and preserving the tribute.

The memorial includes beams from the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The monument will now be donated to the city of Salem, according to Tiffany Holland in the Roanoke Times. The story indicates that proceeds from the auction were intended to go to the 9/11 Memorial.

In a letter to the company considering a sale, Daniels said the 9/11 Memorial would not accept the proceeds from the auction.

“I wanted first to inform you that in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, recovered World Trade Center steel remnants have historically been protected, not sold,” Daniels wrote in the letter. “As a result, I find it hard to believe that pieces of Ground Zero steel used to create this memorial in Salem, Virginia, have been put on auction.”

This location in Salem is one of three memorials in that city that are registered in the 9/11 Memorial Registry of tributes around the globe.

By Anthony Guido, 9/11 Memorial Director of Communications

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