Screenshot of Urban Outfitters ad for Kent State sweatshirt

(Urban Outfitters/Buzzfeed)

KENT, Ohio - Urban Outfitters is facing a public backlash after offering for sale a "Vintage Kent State Sweatshirt" with red blotches that could be interpreted as blood stains.

Twitter lit up as people blasted the company for its insensitivity for selling an item citing a university nationally known as the site of the May 4, 1970 deaths of four students by the Ohio National Guard during Vietnam War protests.

"We take great offense to a company using our pain for their publicity and profit" the university said in a statement Monday. "This item is beyond poor taste and trivializes a loss of life that still hurts the Kent State community today."

Buzzfeed first posted a story, and it was picked up by national news sites, including the Today Show.

The description of the $129 sweatshirt read: "Washed soft and perfectly broken in, this vintage Kent State sweatshirt is cut in a loose, slouchy fit. Excellent vintage condition. We only have one, so get it or regret it.!"

The Urban Outfitters website says the shirt is sold out.

But the sweatshirt is now being offered on eBay for $550, or for a $2,500 buy-it-now price.

"May 4, 1970, was a watershed moment for the country and especially the Kent State family," the university said. "We lost four students that day while nine others were wounded and countless others were changed forever. We invite the leaders of this company as well as anyone who invested in this item to tour our May 4 Visitors Center, which opened two years ago, to gain perspective on what happened 44 years ago and apply its meaning to the future."