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UPDATED: UNC Police Issue Arrest Warrants For Two Suspects In Racist Vandalism Incident

Don McCullough

Updated at 11:20 a.m.

UNC spokesman Randy Young said no arrests had been made as of Tuesday morning.

Updated at 7 p.m.

UNC Police have taken out arrest warrants for two suspects involved in the racist vandalism on University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's campus, said UNC Police spokesperson Randy Young.

UNC Police said they are "conducting a thorough criminal investigation" and "will not be releasing any details that could impede that investigation or subsequent prosecution," including the language used in the graffiti.

Barricades have been reerected around the Unsung Founders Memorial "to deter future incidents," and police "continue to monitor any threats to the campus," according to Young.

Updated at 3:30 p.m.

Early Sunday morning, two individuals defaced the Unsung Founders Memorial on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's campus with racist graffiti, according to a statement issued by UNC-CH Interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz. The memorial is located in McCorkle Place at the heart of the campus, not far from the site where the Silent Sam Confederate monument was toppled and the base later removed.

The two individuals, who were left unnamed, wrote "racist and other deplorable language" on the memorial, said Guskiewicz.

The memorial which depicts  hundreds of bronze figurines holding up a granite tabletop is enscribed with a dedication to the "University's unsung founders — the people of color bound and free..."

In his statement, Guskiewicz said university police also found that an art installation outside of the Hanes Art Center had been similarly vandalized with racist language.

"These events challenge not only our most fundamental community values, but also the safety of our campus. Lawless behavior will not be tolerated, and those found responsible will be held accountable for their actions," wrote Guskiewicz.

Guskiewicz said the UNC-CH facilities has since cleaned the Unsung Founders Memorial. UNC-CH media relations did not provide WUNC with an update on whether the installation had also been restored.

According to Guskiewicz, one of the vandals was captured on surveillance video and had been identified as being affiliated with the Heirs to the Confederacy group. University police are pursuing a warrent for his arrest, while working to identify thew second idividual, said Guskiewicz.

With files from The Associated Press.

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Laura Pellicer is a digital reporter with WUNC’s small but intrepid digital news team.
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