Story highlights The state party says it is sorry, and that the tweets were misinterpreted

Confederate memorials have emerged as a significant issue in the Virginia gubernatorial contest

Washington (CNN) The Republican Party of Virginia deleted tweets Wednesday saying the Democratic nominee for governor was dishonoring his "family's heritage" by calling for the removal of Confederate monuments.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, who won his party's gubernatorial primary, has called for monuments lionizing the Confederacy to come down, and in response, the Virginia GOP fired off a pair of tweets Wednesday that generated ire online.

The party wrote: ".@RalphNortham has turned his back on his own family's heritage in demanding monument removal (1/2)" and "Shows @RalphNortham will do anything or say anything to try and be #VAGov - #Pathetic 2/2"

Northam said earlier this year he recently discovered his own ancestors were slave owners.

Northam responded to Wednesday's tweets and turned the conversation to his Republican opponent Ed Gillespie.

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