Marshall University’s campus was covered with sidewalk chalk supporting Donald J. Trump’s idea to “Build a Wall” Monday.

The chalk was quickly cleaned up by members of the university’s staff, although images of the drawings had made enough rounds on social media for many students to develop opinions over the campaigning.

“There are tons of INTO students here and this is very offensive to them,” said freshman psychology major Taylor Thompson. “I have tons of Saudi Arabian friends who one day would want to move here and with someone like Trump in office, why would they?”

Some students expressed concerns the clean up violated the freedom of speech of those who drew the messages.

Marshall senior Morgan Bandy said the university itself cannot endorse any candidate and because of that, it was necessary to clean up the writings.

“I believe there are appropriate ways to endorse or campaign for a candidate but defacing school property isn’t right,” Bandy said. “Every student pays tuition to keep the university maintained and we all have individual rights to express ourselves, but the chalk writing is offensive.”

Marshall has a list of rules as to what is appropriate for campus groups and organizations to post on campus. Anything posted must name the person or organization sponsoring that information. Posting or writing anything on walls or buildings is prohibited.

“In reality no one student owns Marshall, so it is not their property to destroy,” Bandy said. “They got to draw it without being stopped and they faced no consequences for drawing it, so their freedoms have been upheld.”

Those who participated in the chalk writings are unknown.

Baily Turner can be contacted at [email protected].