RALEIGH -- The debate over Confederate statues on public grounds continues in downtown Raleigh.

A proposal calls for the removal of the statues from State Capitol grounds for relocation.

They are dedicated to Confederate soldiers who fought for North Carolina during the civil war.

Some say they represent oppression and slavery. Others believe they're a reminder of our state's history that should not be removed from the public grounds.

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources opened public comment this week on the potential removal of these statues.

If that move is approved, the statues would be relocated to the Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site in Four Oaks, North Carolina.

Since Monday, the department has received over 1,300 public comments on the issue.

The debate is passionate and, at times, heated.

"We know people that go back 100, 150, 200, 300, 400 years. And this family, when they talk about moving this, is blood,” said William O’Quinn. “It really cuts us deep when they try to take down the memorial that men who died to protect their families, to protect their state."

A comment left by Dorothy Snyder, of Hillsborough, reads in part: "It is incumbent upon our elected leaders and, indeed, institutions of higher learning, to take unequivocal stands in support of the rising tide of good Americans who stand with their neighbors of all colors to say that monuments to racism must not stand, will not stand, cannot stand. You can either do the right thing and remove these statues, or you can find yourself on the wrong side of history and not remove them."

You can add your voice to the discussion on the public comment site here.