CHARLESTON, S.C. — A lonely fireplace chimney sprouts two dozen feet high from a tidy vacant lot, not far from the tidal push and pull of the Ashley River. The only heat it gives is from being at the center of a dispute over that most mundane of issues, zoning.

But this chimney is like a controversial art installation. Seen from one angle, it is a rare historical artifact that should be preserved. Seen from another, it is a memorial to evil that should be knocked down or carted off.

Fueling these hot embers of emotion are the chiseled words on a concrete plaque at the top of the chimney:

GERMAN

PRISONERS

OF WAR

19.1.1945

A true story: This chimney, planted like a limbless live oak on a residential street, was built by imprisoned German soldiers during the final year of World War II.

City officials and preservationists want to protect the chimney as a piece of a forgotten America. But the property’s owners, members of a prominent Charleston family, see it as more than just an obstacle to their development plans.