Chapel Hill mayor calls on UNC to take down Silent Sam statue

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger called the Confederate monument known as Silent Sam on the UNC campus a danger to public safety Friday and asked the school to take it down.

"...the presence of the Silent Sam statue on campus presents a clear and present danger to the students on campus and our community at large," wrote Hemminger in a letter to Chancellor Carol Folt.

Under a law passed in 2015, local officials do not have the power to take down Confederate monuments. Hemminger called on UNC to petition the North Carolina Historical Commission for the statue's removal.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL LETTER

The Silent Sam statue has been the target of vandals several times in recent years.