Police stand guard after the confederate statue known as Silent Sam was toppled by protesters on campus at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., Monday, Aug. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerry... (Associated Press) 
 
 Police stand guard after the confederate statue known as Silent Sam was toppled by protesters on campus at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., Monday, Aug. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome) (Associated Press) 
 
 CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Leaders of North Carolina's university system spoke out Tuesday to condemn the toppling of a century-old Confederate memorial on the state's flagship campus by protesters who decried racist motives for its placement on campus dating to a dedication speech praising violence against former slaves. 
 
 The University of North Carolina system's president and the chairman of the Board of Governors promised a full criminal investigation of the Monday night protest that brought down the statue known as "Silent Sam." The bronze figure of an anonymous rebel soldier was pulled down from its tall stone pedestal by protesters using ropes and banners to mask their action. 
 
 "The safety and security of our students, faculty, and staff is paramount," President Margaret Spellings and board chairman Harry Smith said in a statement Tuesday. "And the actions last evening were unacceptable, dangerous, and incomprehensible. We are a nation of laws_and mob rule and the intentional destruction of public property will not be tolerated." 
 
 The statue, erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1913, had been under constant police surveillance after being vandalized in recent months, costing the university hundreds of thousands of dollars. 
 
 Protesters appeared to outwit officers with coordinated tactics that started with the raising of four tall black banners on bamboo poles, along with more banners on the ground, concealing efforts to tie a rope around it. They then split into two groups, with most marching away from the statue to distract from as small group remaining behind. The banners were up for about an hour before the groups converged and yanked the statue down, according to videos. 
 
 Silent Sam's century-long presence in the center of a main quadrangle ended around midnight after workers covered it with a tarp, lifted it with a backhoe and put it into the back of a truck for a trip to an undisclosed storage location. 
 
 House Speaker Tim Moore also criticized the protesters, saying they should be arrested and prosecuted "to make clear that mob rule and acts of violence will not be tolerated in our state." 
 
 Their statements were stronger than that of Chancellor Carol Folt, who didn't call for arrests and charges in her comment Monday night. 
 
 Instead, she described the protesters' actions as unlawful and dangerous, while acknowledging that the "monument has been divisive for years, and its presence has been a source of frustration for many people." 
 
 Once the statue fell, "Silent Sam's" face down in the dirt, demonstrators kicked it and cheered, chanting "Tar Heels!" and "Whose Campus? Our Campus!" as passing cars honked in approval. 
 
 Many students, faculty and alumni argued that "Silent Sam" symbolized racism and asked officials to take it down. Protesters responded to the assertion that the statue wasn't a symbol of white power by reading from its 1913 dedication speech , by tobacco magnate Julian Carr, which praises Confederate veterans for terrorizing former slaves and making sure "the purest strain of the Anglo Saxon is to be found in the 13 Southern States." 
 
 Two friends who have proteseted against "Silent Sam" for years, C.J. Suitte and Will McInerney, said Tuesday they wonder if UNC will return the statue to its still-standing pedestal. 
 
 "People have been protesting the statues since the 50s and 60s and it always finds a way to come back. People find a way to defend it," said Suitte, a Chapel Hill resident. "It feels a little surreal. I feel excited but I also feel like — alright, how long is it going to be before they bring the crane in and put him back?" 
 
 North Carolina ranks among the handful of Southern states with the most Confederate monuments , and has been a focal point in the national debate over them following a deadly white nationalist protest a year ago in Charlottesville, Virginia . 
 
 Protests over the UNC statue flared in the past year, and another Confederate monument in nearby Durham was torn down by protesters shortly after the Virginia rally. 
 
 Gov. Roy Cooper had called for removing "Silent Sam" and other rebel symbols on public land. A state historic panel is set to meet Wednesday to debate Cooper's request to remove other Confederate monuments at the state Capitol. 
 
 Still, the Democratic governor issued a statement on Twitter on Monday night arguing the protesters took the wrong approach. 
 
 "The Governor understands that many people are frustrated by the pace of change and he shares their frustration, but violent destruction of public property has no place in our communities," said the tweet from his official account. 
 
 Campus police referred questions to the university's media relations department, which declined to answer questions Tuesday. 
 
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 Associated Press writer Alexander Derosier contributed to this report. 
 
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 Follow Drew on Twitter at www.twitter.com/JonathanLDrew ||||| EMBED More News Videos Watch: Silent Sam statue comes crashing down. Courtesy of our newsgathering partners the News and Observer. 
 
 EMBED More News Videos Silent Sam comes crashing down on the UNC campus. Protesters then threw dirt on the statue before police moved in. 
 
 Hard to tell but this is the statue of #SilentSam after he was brought down tonight by protestors. #ABC11 @UNC pic.twitter.com/O7w8o83Fk9 — Josh Chapin (@JoshChapinABC11) August 21, 2018 
 
 EMBED More News Videos Protesters explain the significance of the moment as Silent Sam is toppled. 
 
 EMBED More News Videos Raw video: Protesters chant at Silent Sam statue on UNC campus Monday. 
 
 The statue of #SilentSam has been picked up by a backhoe and will be put into a dump truck as we speak. #abc11 pic.twitter.com/BMkt0nvam9 — Josh Chapin (@JoshChapinABC11) August 21, 2018 
 
 Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Silent Sam statue on the University of North Carolina's campus Monday evening chanting for the removal of the monument and later blocking traffic in the Franklin Street area. After dark, they removed it themselves, using a rope to bring the Confederate statue crashing down.The group initially gathered to call for university leaders to take action and remove the monument.But sometime after dark, a group used a rope and took matters into its own hands, toppling the statue amid wild cheers from the gathered crowd.Through a statement, Gov. Roy Cooper said he shared the frustration felt by protesters but condemned the desecration of public property."Governor Cooper has been in contact with local law enforcement and UNC officials regarding tonight's rally and appreciates their efforts to keep people safe," said Cooper's spokesman, Ford Porter. "The Governor understands that many people are frustrated by the pace of change and he shares their frustration, but violent destruction of public property has no place in our communities."Those who called for the removal of Silent Sam said Monday night's protest was also in solidarity with Maya Little , the UNC graduate student who was facing expulsion from school and criminal charges for covering Silent Sam with paint and her own blood earlier this year.Many students used large signs and banners to cover the statue.Protesters then moved up Franklin Street and were blocking traffic. Chapel Hill Police said Franklin Street is closed between Raleigh Street and Church Street. It reopened about 9:15 p.m., police said.At some point after that, the statue was brought to the ground. Some threw dirt on the statue as if to bury it. Law enforcement soon moved in and formed a human barrier around the fallen monument.The University tweeted a statement about the events, saying in part, that Monday's "actions were dangerous, and we are very fortunate that no one was injured. We are investigating the vandalism and assessing the full extent of the damage."The statue had stood on UNC's campus since June 2, 1913, Commencement Day at UNC and the day the United Daughters of the Confederacy dedicated what then was called by most simply the Confederate Memorial.Bettie Jackson, a member of UDC, told the crowd at the dedication, "This monument is erected in memory of those students of this university who served in the armies of the Confederate States of America."Now, its future remains unclear.As midnight approached, the statue was picked up by a backhoe and placed into a dump truck. ||||| A protester kicks the toppled statue of a Confederate soldier after it was pulled down in Durham, N.C. Monday, Aug. 14, 2017. Activists on Monday evening used a rope to pull down the monument outside... (Associated Press) 
 
 DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Protesters in North Carolina toppled a nearly century-old statue of a Confederate soldier Monday at a rally against racism. 
 
 Activists in Durham brought a ladder up to the statue and used a rope to pull down the Confederate Soldiers Monument that was dedicated in 1924. A diverse crowd of dozens cheered as the statue of a soldier holding a rifle fell to the ground in front of an old courthouse building that now houses local government offices. 
 
 Seconds after the monument fell, protesters began kicking the crumpled bronze monument. 
 
 "I was a little bit shocked people could come here and come together like that," said Isaiah Wallace, who is black. 
 
 Wallace said he watched as others toppled the statue. He hopes other Confederate symbols elsewhere will follow. 
 
 "I feel like this is going to send shockwaves through the country and hopefully they can bring down other racist symbols," he said. 
 
 The Durham protest was in response to a white nationalist rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. Authorities say one woman was killed Saturday after one of the white nationalists drove his car into a group of peaceful counter-protesters. 
 
 Although the violence in Virginia has prompted fresh talk by government officials about bringing down symbols of the Confederacy around the South, North Carolina has a law protecting them. The 2015 law prevents removing such monuments on public property without permission from state officials. 
 
 In response to the statue in Durham being torn down, Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper tweeted: "The racism and deadly violence in Charlottesville is unacceptable but there is a better way to remove these monuments." 
 
 After the statue fell, several dozen protesters congregated on the street in front of the old courthouse. Some took pictures standing or sitting on the toppled soldier, in front of a pedestal inscribed with the words "In Memory of the Boys Who Wore The Gray." Police cruisers blocked off the street, and officers looked on — some filming. As it got dark, rally participants began to peacefully disperse. 
 
 Robin Williamson, who works downtown, arrived in the area about an hour after the statue came down. Williamson, who is black, said he can sympathize with people who are upset with the state of racial discourse in the country. 
 
 "People feel that with Donald Trump as leader, racists can be vocal," he said. 
 
 He said that while Confederate monuments have been defaced in other cities, it was surprising to see an entire statue brought down by protesters. 
 
 "This is a little bit more intense because they took the whole statue down," he said. 
 
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 Follow Drew at www.twitter.com/jonldrew
– A statue dedicated to the memory of Confederate soldiers 105 years ago came crashing to the ground at the University of North Carolina on Monday night. "Silent Sam," a statue of a Confederate soldier donated to the university by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and erected in 1913, was brought down by some of the protesters who had marched against the statue earlier in the evening, WTVD reports. A group of protesters cheered and threw dirt on the statue after others brought it down using a rope. Police officers, who made at least one arrest, then moved in to form a human shield around the toppled statue. Students and faculty at the Chapel Hill campus had called the statue a monument to a racist past and called for its removal, the AP reports. Reactions ranged from joy to anger, with the university calling the protesters' actions "dangerous," the News and Observer reports. "The Governor understands that many people are frustrated by the pace of change and he shares their frustration, but violent destruction of public property has no place in our communities," Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement. (Another Confederate statue was toppled by a crowd in Durham last year.)