CROSSVILLE, TN (WZTV/CNN) – After concerned parents questioned why murals showing a hanging and a Confederate flag were allowed in an elementary school gym, the school had the murals painted over.
At South Cumberland Elementary School in Crossville, TN, the mascot is the Rebels, so murals inside the school gym depicted a large Confederate flag and a person in blue, hanging from a tree, next to another person holding the Confederate flag.
Some residents say they had no problem with the murals.
"It’s part of our heritage and how they were brought up, so I just don’t have a problem with flying the rebel flag," resident Wendy Reed said.
But most did agree the mural with the hanging went too far.
“I’m a soft person, but when it comes to that, like in the school, it’s not the best thing for kids to see that,” resident Shay Barrett said.
Representatives from the Cumberland County school district say the murals were removed Friday. An artist was scheduled to paint something else over them, but the artist fell ill so plans were postponed.
"A kid hanging, that would bother me, but sometimes I think we just make it bigger than it needs to be,” Reed said.
It’s unclear how long the murals were on display in the school.
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