Columbia, North Carolina - A lawsuit is fighting to have a shocking "faithful slaves" etching removed from a Confederate monument outside a local courthouse.

A federal lawsuit is calling for a 123-year-old Confederate monument be modified to remove offensive pro-slavery text inscribed into its base.

The statue, which takes the form of a 23-foot Confederate soldier, is inscribed with the words "In appreciation of our faithful slaves," and is located on the steps of the Tyrrell County Courthouse.

"I just remember thinking that slaves had to be so-called faithful, or they would be punished or even worse," Sherryweed Robinson, who joined the lawsuit, told the New York Times.

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Robinson described growing up in Columbia, North Carolina, and noticing the etching while performing with her high school band on the courthouse steps.

"As an adult, the words sitting on the grounds of a courthouse made me question whether Blacks could really receive justice there," she explained.

The lawsuit argues that the "faithful slave" inscription violates the 14th Amendment because it is considered racially discriminatory government speech.

Those who oppose the removal of the inscription claim such a move would break a state monument protection law, which establishes that any removal or altering of a monument requires approval from the North Carolina Historical Commission.

Confederate monuments are increasingly being celebrated by the Trump administration, which earlier this year directed the US military to restore Confederate names to its military bases and a Confederate memorial to Arlington National Cemetery.

A statue of Albert Pike, a Confederate general and diplomat, is set to be returned and restored near the Capitol Building in Washington DC, five years after it was removed during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.