Associated Press

PITTSBORO — The Chatham County commissioners have told the United Daughters of the Confederacy that it must soon come up with a plan to remove a Confederate monument from the county courthouse grounds.

The News & Observer reports that the commissioners voted 4-1 Monday to ask the chapter to offer a removal plan by Oct. 1. If the deadline isn’t met, the county said it will declare the monument public trespass and take steps to remove it.

At the board meeting Monday, monument supporters shouted that the commissioners are “traitors.”

The county’s efforts could be complicated by a state law that largely restricts removal of such monuments on public land.

The monument was placed at the Pittsboro courthouse in 1907.

Commissioner Karen Howard says nobody has suggested destroying it, but she proposed moving it and forming a reconciliation panel.

A similar debate has ensued in Salisbury about the Confederate monument “Fame,” which stands at West Innes and Church streets in downtown Salisbury. The land on which “Fame” sits was deeded to a chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy decades ago.

Vandals splashed paint on “Fame” last August and again in March. The City Council held a forum in June to get public comment on the issue.

Salisbury City Attorney Graham Corriher has said that absent an agreement with the property owner, a 2015 state law prevents removing monuments permanently and places limits on cities relocating statues unless it is for public safety reasons.