Chapel Hill mayor asks for Silent Sam to be removed from UNC campus

Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger has requested that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill petition the North Carolina Historic Commission to immediately remove Silent Sam from campus "in the interest of public safety."

Hemminger sent a letter to UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt Thursday asking, in light of Monday’s toppling of a Confederate monument in Durham and Thursday’s vandalism of the Duke Chapel statue, that the confederate soldier statue be immediately removed from campus.

She cited a state statute which states that at times political subdivisions, such as a university, should take “appropriate measures” to preserve a monument.

"Right now is such a time. The possibility of a breach of the peace is high, and with it the likelihood that Silent Sam could suffer substantial damage," Hemminger said in a statement.