U.S. JANUARY 15, 2019 / 12:26 AM / UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO

Confederate monument's pedestal ordered removed at university in North Carolina

Alex Dobuzinskis
3 MIN READ

(Reuters) - The pedestal for a Confederate monument called Silent Sam that has been a flashpoint for demonstrations at a North Carolina university will be removed, the school’s president said on Monday, nearly five months after protesters toppled the statue.

The plan to remove the statue’s base and commemorative plaques was outlined by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill chancellor Carol Folt, in a statement that also said she would resign after this academic year’s graduation ceremonies.

“The base and tablets will be preserved until their future is decided,” Folt said in a statement.

The effort to eliminate Confederate monuments gained momentum in the United States after avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof in 2015 murdered nine black people at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. The rampage ultimately led to the removal of a Confederate flag from the statehouse in Columbia.

Silent Sam was erected in 1913 to honor soldiers of the pro-slavery Confederacy killed during the U.S. Civil War. Protesters used ropes to pull down the statue on Aug. 20.

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