SCOTCH PLAINS -- A Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School student has started an online petition calling on the principal to rid the school -- whose mascot is the Raiders -- of all ties to Native American culture.

The student's petition doesn't call for changing the name, Raiders, but ensuring the removal of Native American symbols and making sure that students no longer attend sporting events wearing Native American outfits, as is sometimes the case.

"My goal is to keep the Raider name, but remove its ties from indigenous people all together," the sophomore's petition on Change.org said.

"The fact that derogatory logos are still being used, indigenous headdresses are still being culturally appropriated, and Raider Nation doesn't want to change it is concerning," the student added.

The high school's symbol, the Raiders, depicts a stylized running figure holding a shield with an "R" in one hand and an ax raised over his head in the other. But symbols on other items include what appears to be a Native American symbol -- an arrow with a feather.

Students have been seen at games wearing feathered war bonnets and faces covered in blue and white war paint along with other symbols of Native American culture.

The initiative has prompted a fiery response on both sides with many taking to social media to either voice their support for the effort or to angrily denounce it.

"So who is going to police this rule if it goes through? Have someone at every sporting event looking for violations?" one person asked in a community Facebook group.

Another commenter said, "It is tradition. Nothing about the logo is (malicious) towards indigenous people.

Others, however, have voiced their support for the effort, saying they agreed that the Raiders logo is offensive.

"I've always had reservations about the Raiders logo," one person wrote in the comment section of the online petition.

The petition -- entitled "No racism starts with no racist SPF (Scotch Plains-Fanwood) -- has 104 supporters as of Tuesday afternoon. The school has more than 1,570 students.

This is not the first time the school's logo has encountered scrutiny.

In 2004, the high school retired its previous logo -- a blue and white silhouette of a Native American head in full headdress -- after then-New Jersey Commissioner William Librera sent a letter encouraging public schools in the state to discontinue using symbols depicting Native American culture.

The student currently leading the effort believes the high school hasn't gone far enough and is calling on Principal David Heisey to take action.

Heisey told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday that he and the school felt strongly about changing the school's former logo in 2004.

"We don't support anything that would portray Native Americans in a negative fashion," he said, though, adding, "it does appear from time to time."

He believes the student who started the petition is "someone standing up for what they believe in."

And, at sporting events, he said he expects students to come dressed in a way that "appropriately displays the mascot we currently have."

Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook.