In reply, in reading the article, I believe the decision was kicked to a higher level - the Landmarks Commission ruled that the stone could not be removed. But the Council voted to remove it anyway.
Council members voted 16-2 to overturn the Landmarks Commission’s ruling that barred the removal of a large, stone monument that lists the names of about 140 prisoners-of-war buried in a section of the cemetery known as Confederate Rest.
This is where I would disagree with you
@MattL (or agree with you, as the case may be.) Seems they
have a process in Madison WI - but this council took it upon themselves to remove the stone anyway. So it wasn't decided within the established process. The established process that "has apparently served fine enough until now" was bypassed in order to remove the stone anyway. IMHO further evidence to support
@John Winn 's suggestion