Cam Newton statue ‘defaced’ outside Auburn stadium. Alabama fans are suspected.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has been dragged back into the long running rivalry between Alabama and his alma mater Auburn in the oddest of ways.

Newton is honored with a statue outside Auburn University’s Jordan-Hare Stadium and someone — presumably an Alabama fan — strapped two University of Alabama flags and a men’s athletic supporter to the statue overnight Tuesday, according to photos on social media.

Images of the additions were tweeted by Jared Dillard of TV station WEGL who said: “Welp. Didn’t expect this early in the morning...”

The campus newspaper, The Auburn Plainsman, said the statue was “defaced” and added: “The Auburn Police Division are looking into the incident.”

The Panthers fan site on 247Sports says the statue was “vandalized” and singled out Alabama fans as the culprits.

“This is not the first time that Newton and his likeness has been weaponized in the Auburn-Alabama rivalry,” said 247Sports writer Steven Taranto.

“In 2010, just ahead of the annual Iron Bowl between the two teams, Newton’s jersey was found as having been taped to the statue of Bear Bryant, the immortalized head coach of Alabama: An outright declaration of war.”

The two teams play each other in the Iron Bowl on Nov. 24, but “apparently it’s not too early for the two fan bases to start pranking each other,” reported SaturdayDownSouth.com.

Newton led Auburn to an SEC championship and national title in 2010, reported the sports site. He went on to win the Heisman Trophy that year “in a landslide victory,” says Heisman.com.

Social media reaction has been mostly amused at the statue incident, including some fans like Burt Carter who noted it’s just the latest example of how Newton’s Auburn career continues to haunt Alabama fans eight years later.

This story was originally published October 17, 2018 at 3:33 PM.