by: AP

Posted: Jul 17, 2024 / 09:38 PM EDT

Updated: Jul 17, 2024 / 09:41 PM EDT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Eddie Dunning, who painted the South Carolina Gamecock logo at midfield in Williams-Brice Stadium for 40 seasons, has died, university officials said. He was 69.

South Carolina’s athletic department announced his death Wednesday. Dunning’s obituary said he died on July 13 at a Columbia hospital. No cause of death was provided.

Dunning joined the department in 1983 and began painting the longtime Gamecocks’ logo at the center of the football field the next year.

“He will be greatly missed,” South Carolina athletics said in a social media post.

The post said that Dunning volunteered to deliver food to his community through the Harvest Hope organization.

Dunning explained his process in a video posted by The State newspaper in honor of his 32nd season. He said he typically started painting the logo on Thursday so it will be finished and dry by a Saturday game day.

“When everybody’s happy, I’m happy,” Dunning said about his finished product.

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Updated July 17, 2024 at 15:45 PM ET

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An Atlanta man is facing a trespassing charge after authorities said he drove nearly three hours to South Carolina to vandalize a Confederate flag.

The incident happened on Saturday in Spartanburg, South Carolina, about 33 miles northeast of Greenville, according to a document filed by the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office.

Someone called the sheriff’s office that day about trespassing on Interstate 85 southbound at the 76 mile marker, the document reads. A deputy arrived and spoke to a witness who said the 23-year-old man climbed a fence and tried to lower a Confederate flag.

The deputy spoke to the man, who admitted he climbed the fence because he does not agree with the Confederate flag.

The deputy said the man also had tools such as a Dremel and drill bits.

The deputy wrote there are “no trespassing” signs along the fence that the man climbed over, adding that a day before the flag incident, someone vandalized the same Confederate flag. 

When the deputy asked the man if he had been on the property that Friday night, he said he had not. He did, however, admit to driving from Atlanta to Spartanburg County to lower the flag.

“Daniel was very upfront and cooperative during questioning,” the deputy wrote. 

The man was arrested, taken to jail and issued a ticket for trespassing. 

“The tools and Daniels cell phone were seized for evidence purposes for both the trespassing and vandalism,” the deputy wrote.

The flag was originally erected by the Sons of Confederate Veterans in 2022, according to television station Fox 5 Atlanta. The organization’s Spartanburg chapter owns the property.

The meaning of the Confederate flag

The Confederate flag was flown during the Civil War when the following states separated themselves from the nation in the defense of slavery: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Today, while the flag represents racism to some Americans, others recognize it as a sign of their heritage.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY’s NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.