'Silent Sam' confederate statue knocked down by protesters on University of North Carolina campus

As the monument toppled, protesters seen kicking its head and pouring earth over it

A crowd of 250 protesters at the University of North Carolina has torn down a controversial Confederate statue that was erected in 1913.

Video shows the statue of “Silent Sam” coming down on Monday evening outside the Chapel Hill campus, as students chant: “I believe that we will win,” – a popular US sports chant.

As the monument was toppled, protesters were seen kicking the statue’s head and pouring earth over it.

“Tonight's actions were dangerous, and we are very fortunate that no one was injured. We are investigating the vandalism and assessing the full extent of the damage,” UNC said in a statement.

The statue came down at about 9.30pm, on the first day of the new term, the university said.

Following the incident one person was arrested, a spokeswoman told local media.

UNC spokeswoman Kate Luck said: “The charges are for concealing one’s face during a public rally and resisting arrest.”

The statue was of a Confederate soldier and known as “Silent Sam”. It was erected in memory of the “sons of the University who died for their beloved Southland 1861 – 1865”, according to the UNC website.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s office tweeted in response to the incident: “The Governor understands that many people are frustrated by the pace of change and he shares their frustration, but violent destruction of public property has no place in our communities.”

Last year, Governor Cooper called for the removal of more Confederate statues and monuments.

The US has seen increased removals of Confederate monuments in recent years. A significant number of the statues were built during the Jim Crow era – 1877-1954 in which racial segregation was enforced, and during the subsequent Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968). Many were interpreted as a means of intimidating African Americans and re-affirming white supremacy.

Following the Charleston church shooting in 2015 and the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, at which a woman was killed by far-right demonstrators, momentum for removals has built.

The destruction of the Silent Sam statue comes months after both staff and students had called for its removal.

In November the university held a meeting at which people spoke in support and against Silent Sam.

One student was already facing expulsion from the university after she put blood and ink on the statue.

Maya Little, a second-year PhD history student previously told WTVD-TV the university was spending money “to maintain a statue that glorifies the enslavement of my ancestors. That was dedicated by a man who took pleasure in beating a black woman on our campus, that was erected by a group who praised the KKK as protectors of white womanhood.”

UNC’s history department had also urged the removal of the statue. On its website the department said in a statement: “From its inception, the monument was exclusionary and offered a highly selective interpretation of the nation's history ... The monument will continue to promote malicious values that have persisted too long on this campus, in this state, and in this nation.”