The Young Americans for Freedom club at the University of Notre Dame claim they found '500,000 Iraqis murdered' written in chalk beneath the campus flagpole on Monday.

Members of the group had arrived to the flag pole in the quad area of the campus early Monday morning to set up a flag memorial as part of their 9/11 Never Forget Project.

A Facebook message on the group's page reads: 'When we arrived to set up our 9/11 Never Forget Project this morning we were dismayed to find our reserved space had been vandalized with the phrase '500,000 Iraqi's murdered'.

The Young Americans for Freedom club at the University of Notre Dame claim they found '500,000 Iraqis murdered' written in chalk beneath the campus flagpole on Monday

Members of the group had arrived to the flag pole in the quad area of the campus early Monday morning to set up a flag memorial as part of their 9/11 Never Forget Project

'The 9/11 Never Forget Project is not meant to divide the community, but unite us under the fact that 16 years and 2,977 flags later, we still remember the fallen.

'We still remember those who valiantly put themselves in harm's way to save innocent American lives. We will never forget.'

Matthew Bartilotti, a student at the university and member of the YAF's executive board issued a statement on their website.

A Facebook message on the group's page reads: 'When we arrived to set up our 9/11 Never Forget Project this morning we were dismayed to find our reserved space had been vandalized with the phrase '500,000 Iraqi's murdered'

It reads, 'We find it very sad that somebody attempted to anonymously, under the cover of night, desecrate the site of our memorial remembering the death of nearly 3,000 innocent humans with this unnecessary rhetoric.'

Members of the group didn't let the sidewalk message stop them in completing their memorial project on Monday.

Later in the day, the group was part of a prayer service with the student government association.