***UPDATE*** The office of North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has released a statement on his behalf through Cooper’s official Twitter account.

On Monday evening, students and protesters gathered to call for the removal of the Confederate monument known as Silent Sam from UNC’s campus.

A few hours later, they took matters into their own hands.

With Silent Sam covered by large banners, protesters used ropes to tear down the statue, which had been standing since 1913.

UNC student Samee Siddiqui was one of the first to post pictures of the fallen statue on social media, commenting simply “Silent Sam is down.”

The scene following the statue’s toppling was chaotic, with Jane Stancill of the News & Observer reporting that the crowd was screaming and smoke bombs were everywhere. Protesters then proceeded to pile dirt on the fallen statue.

Social media was quick to react to the statue’s downfall, with the majority of people seemingly relieved that Silent Sam had fallen.

A couple of former UNC athletes were happy to see the statue’s fall.

“About damn time! Good riddance,” commented former UNC basketball player Brice Johnson, who tagged his tweet with #GDTBATH (Great Day To Be A Tar Heel). Former UNC quarterback Marquise Williams responded with, “Facts!!!!”

Former UNC point guard, and Johnson’s teammate, Marcus Paige also posted his support for the protesters on social media.

However, others were not so happy to see Silent Sam fall.

“This is just unbelievable that people think this will change something,” said one user on Facebook. “Disrespectful.”

Another asked about the legal ramifications and commented with, “Ridiculous!!! Arrests??”

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