The site has been a flash point, drawing demonstrators demanding the permanent removal of “Silent Sam,” as the Confederate statue is known, because they say it is a racist and divisive relic that has no place on the state’s flagship campus. It has also drawn pro-Confederate demonstrators who want the monument restored and say it honors students who died in the Civil War.

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An outdoor art installation also was vandalized with racist and hateful language Sunday, Kevin M. Guskiewicz, interim chancellor of UNC, said in a message to the campus. A university spokesman described the artwork as a piece designed by a student “in support of inclusivity in student activism.”

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Campus police issued warrants for two suspects in connection with the vandalism. One was identified on surveillance video as someone connected with a group known as the Heirs to the Confederacy, according to Guskiewicz’s statement.

K. Lance Spivey, a leader of the group, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Tuesday.

In a statement to the Herald-Sun newspaper late Monday night, Spivey said vandalism of a monument violates everything his group stands for. “If these acts of vandalism were in fact committed by any member(s) of Heirs, then the perpetrator(s) were acting on their own, in a renegade capacity and unsanctioned by the Board of Directors,” he told the Herald-Sun. “I, and Heirs to the Confederacy as a whole, will have no part in the damaging, desecration, or destruction of any historical monument, memorial, or marker, and actually support the protection of all such monuments, be they Confederate or otherwise.”

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Lindsay Ayling, a graduate student who has been a leader in the activism against Silent Sam and is involved in other racial issues, said she was told that some of the graffiti named her, with a profanity.

Maya Little, another graduate student who has been a vocal opponent of Silent Sam — including splashing it with blood and red paint in protest — could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday but wrote on social media that she, too, had been targeted in the vandalism.

Ayling said she is worried that some of the pro-Confederate demonstrators are becoming increasingly extreme and prone to violence and that university officials are protecting them when they come to campus. “I believe that by facilitating their presence on campus, UNC has emboldened these groups to commit hate crimes against black students on campus, and that has to end,” she said.

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In his email to campus, Guskiewicz urged anyone who feels threatened to contact police. “These events challenge not only our most fundamental community values, but also the safety of our campus,” he wrote. “Lawless behavior will not be tolerated, and those found responsible will be held accountable for their actions.”

Randy Young, a spokesman for the UNC Police, declined to give details about the text of the graffiti or surveillance video because of the continuing criminal investigation.

The school has replaced the barricades around the Unsung Founders Memorial. It also has surveillance cameras and a regular police presence in the area, Young said in a written statement, and the university police continue to monitor threats to campus.