A peace vigil that stood for decades near the White House is the latest target of Donald Trump's campaign to fight crime in Washington, DC, as the president ordered its removal and bragged that it "came down very quickly."

"That was a tough one," Trump said Sept. 8: "It’s been there for many years. We took it down. It came down very quickly.”

The vigil had been in place in Lafayette Square, just across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, since 1981, but it was dismantled after being brought to Trump's attention.

Asked about the vigil's blue tent at a White House event Sept. 5, Trump turned to an aide in the Oval Office and said: "Take it down. Take it down. Today. Right now."

The vigil structure was dismantled over the weekend, according to media reports, which Trump highlighted Sept. 8 while discussing his push to remove homeless encampments in Washington and combat crime in the capital. That effort has involved taking control of DC's police force and deploying National Guard troops. Trump is now threatening to send troops to other left-leaning cities.

Trump said his District of Columbia initiative has removed 58 "tent cities" before turning to the peace vigil, which he described as "a blue tent right on Lafayette." The vigil's tent didn't house anyone, however. It protected volunteers from the elements, according to The Washington Post.

A peace vigil volunteer told The Associated Press that the administration was improperly classifying the vigil as an encampment to justify its removal, which he said he viewed as a civil rights violation.

Trump spent considerable time during his remarks at a hearing of his Religious Liberty Commission Sept. 8 at the Museum of the Bible in Washington addressing his desire to beautify the capital.

"I'll fix this place up for peanuts," he said. "We're going to have this place looking beautiful within 12 months."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'It came down very quickly.' Trump brags about removing peace vigil in DC takeover

Reporting by Zac Anderson, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect