Ole Miss took down its state flag this morning on the Oxford campus because it contains a Confederate battle emblem in the top left corner.

Police on campus lowered and furled the state flag for the last time Monday morning during a ceremony at Lyceum Circle, the university said in a news release. The flag will be preserved in the University Archives.

The move followed faculty and staff votes seeking the removal of the flag, controversial because of the Confederate battle emblem.

“The University of Mississippi community came to the realization years ago that the Confederate battle flag did not represent many of our core values, such as civility and respect for others,” interim Chancellor Morris Stocks said. “Since that time, we have become a stronger and better university. We join other leaders in our state who are calling for a change in the state flag.”

Mississippi residents voted in 2001 to keep the flag. The debate reemerged after the Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting in June.