President Donald Trump, who has pledged to erase homeless encampments in Washington ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary next year, told his staff Friday to remove a makeshift blue tent that has stood across from the White House for 44 years.

Erected in 1981, the White House Peace Vigil, recognized as the nation’s longest continuous peace vigil, called for nuclear disarmament and an end to global conflicts. To maintain its position in Lafayette Square, just across Pennsylvania Avenue and visible from the north side of the White House, the demonstration must be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

A reporter on Friday at the Oval Office informed Trump of the peace vigil — now staffed by Philipos Melaku-Bello, 63, and a group of rotating volunteers. The reporter described the tent as an “eyesore” supported by the “radical left.”

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