Chapel Hill removes Confederate highway marker ahead of planned weekend protests

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Citing public safety concerns, a North Carolina town has removed its Jefferson Davis Highway memorial marker ahead of planned weekend protests.

News outlets report the Town of Chapel Hill removed the marker Friday, after receiving clarification from the state attorney general that it was on town property, and not University of North Carolina or state property.

In October, the Orange County Board of Supervisors repealed a resolution designating a local stretch of U.S. 15 in honor of the Confederate president, but the stone pillar topped with a bronze plaque remained while the ownership was unsettled. It's still unclear who owns the marker itself.

Town officials also removed a new plaque erected by activists honoring an unnamed black woman whipped by Julian Carr, calling both plaques "a public nuisance."

Associated Press