****UPDATE: The News & Observer has reported that the missing UNC championship sign was found not far from where it was first erected by the NCDOT. The sign had some red and white spray paint on it as well. The Department of Transportation has not yet decided what to do with the sign.****
****UPDATE: On Tuesday afternoon, WNCN morning reporter Lauren Haviland tweeted that “Go Wolfpack” posters have been put up where the UNC championship sign once stood.****
****UPDATE: As of Friday afternoon, a social media post showed that the sign on I-40 near PNC Arena and Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh has been removed.****
Following UNC’s men’s basketball national championship last year, the N.C. Department of Transportation erected signs along highways within the state to celebrate the team’s success. But, based on social media reaction, that is not sitting well with other fanbases across the Tar Heel State.
The NCDOT has a program allowing for universities to pay for signs to be placed on interstates following a national championship victory. Much like Carolina, Duke has a sign in Durham, at the city’s border with Chapel Hill, celebrating the school’s various sports titles. South of the border, Clemson University recently installed signs to celebrate the Tigers’ 2016 football championship.
Overall, Carolina paid for eight signs to be placed on highways around the state. Five were placed on I-85 and I-95 near the state’s borders with Virginia and South Carolina, while three were placed on I-40. Two of the signs on I-40 are located near the Raleigh-Durham International Airport exit.
However, this gesture from UNC has fans of different schools up in arms.
Earlier this year, Charlotte 49ers’ fans petitioned for the department of transportation to remove UNC’s championship sign from Interstate 85 near Charlotte. The sign was later relocated to I-77 near the South Carolina border.
Carolina’s national championship sign on I-40 has Wolfpack fans taking to social media in anger, as it was placed in close proximity to PNC Arena in Raleigh – home of NC State men’s basketball.
https://twitter.com/BarstoolPack/status/965685616766832640
This program for championship signs around the state is a recent addition by the Department of Transportation. To qualify, the university must win a national championship in a sport recognized by the NCAA. The cost per sign, paid by the school, is $2000, according to state officials, and it only remains up for two years.
After angry tweets by NC State fans, Carolina supporters simply had one thing to say in response.
https://twitter.com/RDU_native/status/965692565583474688
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