Updated at 4:30 p.m. June 7 with more information from the State Preservation Board and at noon to include information about Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

AUSTIN — The state's top two elected leaders have kept silent on a Confederate plaque hanging in the Texas Capitol, choosing not to weigh in on questions over who can remove the 60-year-old marker.

Last month, Attorney General Ken Paxton was asked to determine who has the legal power to remove the Children of the Confederacy plaque, which hangs in the Capitol rotunda and claims the Civil War "was not a rebellion, nor was its underlying cause to sustain slavery." Before he issues his opinion — due in October less than two weeks before election day — Paxton had asked Abbott, Patrick and several other people to submit briefs "if they have a special interest or expertise in the subject matter."

Abbott, Patrick and representatives from the Texas Preservation Board chose not to submit briefs. Neither the governor's office nor Patrick's team answered repeated requests for comment on why they did not weigh in on the plaque's removal.

Last month, Abbott's spokeswoman said the governor believes since lawmakers dedicated the plaque, they should play a role in determining its future.

House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, submitted a brief, as did Rep. Eric Johnson, the Dallas Democrat who has been pushing for the plaque's removal. They agreed that the governing board of the State Preservation Board — five elected officials including Abbott, Patrick and Straus and one appointed member of the public — has the power to vote to remove the plaque.

Speaker Straus, who is not seeking re-election this year, called the plaque offensive and misleading in his letter and echoed Johnson's calls for it to be removed.

He argued the preservation board has already moved the plaque once — to its current location outside Johnson's office some time in the 1990s — and reminded Paxton the claims that the Civil War was not fought to sustain slavery was removed from the Children of the Confederacy's creed a few years ago.

"Every year, thousands of visitors to the Capitol are exposed to this inaccurate plaque," Straus' staff wrote on his behalf. "Maintaining it in its present location is a disservice to them and to history. The plaque should either be removed or relocated to a place where appropriate historical context can be provided."

1 / 10The "Children of the Confederacy Creed" plaque at the Capitol on Thursday August 17, 2017.(Jay Janner / Austin American-Statesman) 2 / 10Texas State Representative Eric Johnson grew up in west Dallas and is now trying to have a plaque removed from the State Capital that says the Civil War wasn't about slavery. (Ron Baselice / Staff Photographer) 3 / 10The Terry's Texas Rangers monument stands outside the state Capitol. Terry's Texas Rangers was a group of Texas volunteers for the Confederate Army assembled by Col. Benjamin Franklin Terry. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) 4 / 10The Confederate Soldiers Monument outside the Texas state capitol on Thursday, February 26, 2015 in Austin, Texas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) 5 / 10The John H. Reagan State Office Building near the Texas state capitol on Thursday, February 26, 2015 in Austin, Texas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) 6 / 10The Hood's Texas Brigade Monument outside the Texas state capitol on Thursday, February 26, 2015 in Austin, Texas. Commanded by General John Bell Hood, the Texas Brigade - also referred to as the Hood's Texas Brigade - was an infantry brigade in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) 7 / 10The Hood's Texas Brigade Monument outside the Texas state capitol on Thursday, February 26, 2015 in Austin, Texas. Commanded by General John Bell Hood, the Texas Brigade - also referred to as the Hood's Texas Brigade - was an infantry brigade in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) 8 / 10Tourists stride across the floor of the Capitol rotunda in Austin on Thursday, June 9, 2016. The floor depicts seals from the six powers that have at some point held control over Texas land, including the Confederate States of America.(Lauren McGaughy / Staff writer) 9 / 10The Texas state capitol on Thursday, February 26, 2015 in Austin, Texas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) 10 / 10Texas NAACP President Gary Bledsoe poses outside the Lorenzo DeZavala State Archives and Library building, which displays all six flags that have flown over Texas, on Tuesday, March 17 in Austin, Texas. Bledsoe is opposing a campaign by the Sons of Confederate Veterans to place an emblem with the Confederate battle flag on novelty license plates. He suggests using the Confederate flag, which shows 13 stars in a circle on a blue background in the top right corner and two red bars with a white bar in the middle, rather than the Confederate battle flag, which has the more recognizable X-shaped pattern, because the battle flag has never flown over the state of Texas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News) / mug - mugshot - headshot / 03222015xNEWS 05102015xNEWS(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)

The plaque was not purchased using government money — $201 was raised by children of Confederate veterans — but lawmakers marked its erection with a a resolution mentioning how Texas "proudly entered" the Confederacy and "contributed significantly to the cause of that gallant nation through the period of the War for Southern Independence."

While nods to the Confederacy have been erased from university campuses, public squares and schoolhouse doors in Texas, about a dozen still stand at the state Capitol. These include three large monuments on the grounds, one of which features the Confederate flag and another which honors fallen Confederate soldiers.

Most were erected at the turn of the century. The Children of the Confederacy Creed plaque, by contrast, was dedicated in 1959 in the midst of the civil rights movement. Members of the group at the time recently told The News there was no specific reason it went up that year. The centennial of the Civil War was just a few years away, and the last remaining Confederate veterans were dead or dying, but those notable issues didn't spur the group to put up the plaque.

The centennial of the Civil War was just a few years away, and the last remaining Confederate veterans were dead or dying, but those notable issues didn't spur the group to put up the plaque.

Chris Currens, the spokesman for Preservation Board, said in a statement to The Dallas Morning News that the agency had never received a request to remove a "historical artifact," so it didn't know how to proceed.

Only the governor can call a meeting of the governing board.

"Until now, the [State Preservation Board] has never received a building change request form to remove a Capitol Historical Artifact from one of the ten historic spaces in the Texas Capitol," Currens said. "The agency has no policy for reference, or past precedent for removal, applicable to the unique situation. The agency looks forward to continuing to work with all parties in resolving this matter."

Currens later told The News that the plaque was removed from its original location in the south entrance foyer and put in storage for a few years while the Capitol underwent renovations. After that work was completed, "the plaque was mounted in its current location in April 1995."

Seven months ago, Abbott and Johnson sat down to discuss the plaque's future. Johnson said he has not heard from the governor since then, and warned in his letter to Paxton that if the preservation board fails to act quickly on his request, a court of law could compel it to do so.

"The Curator similarly cannot let a request languish," Johnson wrote. "Should the Curator fail

to act on a change request within a reasonable period of time, mandamus can issue to

require the Curator to act."

On Tuesday, a dozen black lawmakers also wrote to Abbott, urging him to back the plaque's removal.

"We stand at a turning point in our state's history," they said. "We must stand up for true Texas values and that includes having a strong foundation based on truth."