Fox News is reporting that the flag was being flown outside the headquarters of the Lake County, Florida Democratic Party until the veterans showed up at the door to tell them it violated the flag code and demanded that it be removed.
"It's absolutely disrespectful," said Jim Bradford, 71, who participated in the Bay of Pigs invasion. "It's totally ridiculous. To put somebody's picture there, to me, it's a disgrace to do that."
It's also against the law. According to the federal flag code, the flag "should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature."
The Obama flag, which was made in China and is available on-line for $12.95, was in obvious violation of the code.
Bradford snapped a few pictures of the flag and distributed them to fellow veterans and friends. By late afternoon, he and several other veterans delivered a copy of the federal flag code to Nancy Hurlbert, chairwoman of the Lake County Democratic Party.
"We read that to her, but she would not accept that," Bradford said. "The discussion finally got a little bit heated."
Hurlbert eventually removed the flag, but made no promises that she wouldn't fly it again.
"What really upsets me is that the flag had apparently been flying for months and no one had done anything about it," Bradford said. "I've got no hard feelings toward [Hurlbert], but people will be driving by there to make sure it doesn't go up again."
Hurlbert said this was the first time anyone had complained about the flag, which she received as a gift two months ago. She went on to imply that the persons who were objecting to the flag might be racist.
"It leads me to believe that it's not about the flag," she told Fox. "Certain elements cannot accept Barack Obama as president."
She told Fox she intends to contact a lawyer and was non-committal about whether or not she'd fly the flag again.
"I won't say no and I won't say yes," she said. "We want to find out what our legal rights are."
Jay Agg, communications director for AMVETS, told Fox that the American flag should never be altered.
"While we are pleased the flag in question has since been removed from public display, the reported fact that it had flown for months without protest is a clear indication that we have much work to do in educating the public of the importance of protecting our flag," Agg wrote in an email. "This issue is especially important to AMVETS' members, the men and women who have proudly worn our nation's uniform and served under her flag."
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