The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is considering a relocation for a Confederate statue that was toppled and vandalized to an indoor on-campus location.
Silent Sam could be moved into a new $5 million campus building if the proposal is approved by the Board of Governors, The Associated Press reported Monday. The board, which supervises the UNC system, is expected to look into the proposal Dec. 14.
The monument must stay on campus due to a 2015 state law even though Chancellor Carol Folt and several campus trustees said they preferred having Silent Sam off campus, according to The AP.
“It was very clear that public safety alone would make it impossible to return it to its base or any outdoor location on our campus,” Folt said, the AP reported. (RELATED: UNC Student Smears Confederate Statue With Ink And Allegedly Her Own Blood)
Latest on Silent Sam protests: the statue was been smeared with red paint. University grounds crew now attempting to power wash it clean pic.twitter.com/CRmUft14uh
— Kirk A. Bado (@kirk_bado) April 30, 2018
Protesters reportedly tore down Silent Sam on Aug. 20 because they believed the statue represented the state’s slave-holding history. Blood and red paint were also reportedly thrown at the statue in a separate instance.
The university spent over $390,000 defending Silent Sam from protesters between June 2017 and June 2018.
UNC Chapel Hill did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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