Barack Obama's response to the violence in Charlottesville has become the most liked tweet in history

'Love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.'

On the evening of Friday 11th August, a crowd of white supremacists marched on the University of Virginia carrying torches, wearing Neo-Nazi symbolism and t-shirts reading 'Make America Great Again', Donald Trump's campaign slogan.

The following day, at a 'Unite the Right' rally against the removal of a statue of far right leader, Robert E. Lee, a car ploughed into a group of peaceful protesters opposing the demonstration.

One woman, 32-year-old Heather Heyer, was killed, and 19 others were injured in the horrendous attack.

The driver of the car, 20-year old James Fields Jr., has been charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of failure to stop in an accident that resulted in death (hit and run), according to CNN. He is currently being held in a Virginia prison.

Barack Obama's response to the attack, a tweet quoting the late Nelson Mandela, has since become the most liked tweet of all time.

Galvanising Twitter, the message has since clocked in over three million likes.

The former president took the quote from Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, which reads: 'No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion.

'People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.'

The second and third part of the quote have both been liked over a million times each.

According to The Guardian, six of the top 10 most liked tweets of all time are by Barack Obama, from his personal account and the @POTUS handle.