A 9/11 memorial at the California college President Obama attended for two years was destroyed over the weekend by vandals critical of the Iraqi War.

The Republican club at Occidental College planted 2,997 American flags on the school's quad on Saturday in tribute to all of those who died in the terrorist attacks 15 years ago.

But just hours later, the club says that vandals 'crushed, snapped and threw in the garbage every single flag'.

Vandals at Occidental College destroyed a display of 2,997 American flags planted on the school's quad in tribute to those who died on 9/11

The college's Republican club set up the display on Saturday and found every flag pulled out of the ground the next morning

Signs were also set up near the site critical of the Iraqi War. The signs quoted an oft-criticized estimate of Iraqis killed in the U.S. invasion

President Obama attended Occidental from 1979 to 1981, before transferring to Columbia to finish his bachelor's degree

Posters were also taped near the former display, drawing attention to the '1,455,590 innocent Iraqis who died during the U.S. invasion for something they didn't do'.

The estimate of Iraqi deaths is based on an Opinion Research Business survey that has been widely criticized for its methodology. Most other surveys estimate that the death total is between 100,000 to 200,000, with a few estimating as high as 600,000.

The group banded together overnight to put the display back up, but they say they caught people trying to destroy the display yet again Sunday morning as a few students stood guard.

The Republican club put the flags back out after they were twice taken down. The school says they are investigating

'Most of Occidental was asleep at 1 A.M. but not fifteen of us. Students rallied together to get those flags out of the garbage and up in the quad. This is beyond politics, this is about those lives that were so tragically taken.

'Later that morning, a few of us stood guard at the memorial. Four Occidental students came up and snapped a few flags right in our faces. When we confronted them, those cowards got away as fast as they possibly could,' a statement on the group's Facebook page reads.

The Eagle Rock, California college released a statement saying they are investigating the incident and 'will take disciplinary action'.

The College Republicans have asked that students 'respect the memorial for the remainder of its time in the quad'.