Feb 19, 2014 10:53 AM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

At Ole Miss, investigators are going all out to discover who placed a noose and confederate flag on a statue on campus.

According to the Associated Press, the University of Mississippi Alumni Association is offering $25,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest. The FBI joined the investigation Tuesday after a noose was found around the neck of a statue of James Meredith, the first black student to enroll at Ole Miss in 1962 when it had previously been an all-white school.

Students and alumni expressed their displeasure with the defacing of the statue. Michael Oher, an offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens and one of Ole Miss' more famous alumni, tweeted his own message Monday night.

Can't believe they are still doing stuff like that at Ole Miss....really a shame!!

— Michael Oher (@MichaelOher) February 18, 2014

"I just feel like whoever did that had to be completely ignorant to the impact that he had on this campus to deface school property and such a monumental statue like that," sophomore Raven Lyles told HLN TV.

"I think it's absolutely terrible what they did," said freshman John Choat. "I think they should pay for it."

Ole Miss Rebels defesive tackle Herbert Moore also took to Twitter to express his frustration with the vandals.

People love trying to bring olemiss down — BIGHERB!!!! (@99still_cuming) February 18, 2014

But this my university and I still love it anyway

— BIGHERB!!!! (@99still_cuming) February 18, 2014

"These individuals chose our university's most visible symbol of unity and educational accessibility to express their disagreement with our values," Chancellor Dan Jones said in a statement. "Their ideas have no place here, and our response will be an even greater commitment to promoting the values that are engraved on the statue - Courage, Knowledge, Opportunity, and Perseverance."

Campus police found the defaced statue and asked for the FBI's help shortly after, according to Deborah R. Madden, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi FBI office in Jackson. Witnesses told the New York Times they saw two men early Sunday screaming racial obscenities as they placed a noose and draped a pre-2003 Georgia state flag with the Confederate "stars and bars" over Meredith's statue.

Derrick Johnson, president of the Mississippu NAACP, said at a Tuesday news conference that the act was a hate crime.

"It's a racial hate crime," he said. "At what level do they get prosecuted? I don't know. But as long as we tolerate hate, we will continue to revisit history and the past of this state, and at some point we must move forward."

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