ROCK HILL, S.C. – A social justice focused “artist” group is claimed responsibility for black figurines found hanging from a tree outside of Winthrop University’s Tillman Hall that prompted an investigation over the weekend.

A group that calls itself the Association of Artists for Change is claiming responsibility for “numerous” black stockings that were filled with dirt and mulch and hung from a tree outside of the building, which is named after former governor and senator of South Carolina, Benjamin Tillman, the Charlotte Observer reports.

MORE NEWS: From Classroom to Consulate Chef: Culinary Student Lands Dream Job at U.S. Embassy in Paris

Tillman was a wealthy landowner who served as governor in the 1890s – during the peak of lynch mobs that killed black residents – before finishing his life as a U.S. senator.

Tillman Hall has been a target for social justice vandals in the past, and the most recent incident was reported by a student who was taking graduation pictures in the area Sunday afternoon. The “disturbing acts of vandalism” included the “abstract black spray-painted figures hanging from branches of a nearby tree” as well as a sign taped over the buildings nameplate that reads “Tillman’s Legacy,” campus police told WISTV.

The Association of Artists for Change, which consists of some Winthrop students, claims the display is “protest art” designed to force people to confront Tillman’s past, which also includes a central role in establishing both Winthrop and Clemson universities.

“Art challenges one to think, to provoke, event to disturb, in a constant search for truth. Arousing our emotions, expanding our sympathies in directions we may not anticipate and may not want,” the AAC wrote in a prepared statement. “Tillman’s Legacy, is a work which aims to disrupt the aesthetic veil the building has, eliminating the ability to forget the eighteen men who were lynched during Benjamin Tillman’s years in office.”

[xyz-ihs snippet=”NEW-In-Article-Rev-Content-Widget”]

AAC spokeswoman Samantha Valdez told WISTV the group is comprised of LGBTQ and minority activists.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

“If this made you uncomfortable, fearful, the name of the building and what it represents should also,” she said.

Winthrop officials were not impressed with the lesson.

“The Winthrop University Police investigation of a display near Tillman Hall on Sunday has yielded a claim of responsibility by a group who asserts its action is a protest over the Tillman name on the main administration building,” spokesman Jeff Perez wrote in an email to The Herald.

“The imagery used has been deeply hurtful and threatening to many on campus,” he wrote. “This incident will be fully investigated, and those responsible will be held accountable.”

The Winthrop University Police Department described the alleged artwork as “Vandalism (Illegal Graffiti)” in a incident report posted online by The Herald.

Winthrop President Dan Mahony also sent an email to students about the incident on Monday.

“While we do not know the intent of this display, these images are clearly hurtful and threatening and are contrary to the values of Winthrop University,” Mahony wrote.

“Actions such as these are not, and will not be, acceptable on this campus,” he continued. “This incident will be fully investigated, and those responsible will be held accountable to the campus judicial system and South Carolina state law.”

Several students who learned about the incident didn’t have much good to say about the stunt.

“I felt really attacked. I really did,” junior Ayana Jones said. “I didn’t really understand what it was trying to convey.”

“I just thought it was dumb,” junior Alex Waddell said. “I thought whoever is out here trying to do something like that needs to develop their ideas better, honestly.”