Black figures hung in protest at Winthrop University

(CNN) – An act of protest on a college campus right here in South Carolina seems to have been taken the wrong way.

Winthrop University students driving by Tillman Hall over the weekend saw this hanging in a tree, right outside the door. The display included 18 black nylon stockings filled with dirt and mulch that were suspended by ropes from a tree in front of the building, with a sign taped over the Tillman Hall sign reading “Tillman’s Legacy.”

Those responsible are student artists, who say their goal is only to draw attention to Tillman Hall — named for Ben Tillman, a former governor and noted white-supremacist, who spoke against the rights of minorities.