Lake County, Fla., veterans are up in arms over an American flag featuring stars, stripes -- and President Barack Obama's face.
WFTV-TV reports that the flag featuring the commander-in-chief was placed outside Lake County Democratic Party headquarters in the Orlando suburb of Tavares. The symbol was removed Tuesday afternoon after a small group of locals threatened to take it down themselves.
FoxNews.com notes that party Chairwoman Nancy Hurlbert apologized to the veterans, but made no promise that this would be the flag's last appearance. The Obama product has been sold since 2008 by a Seattle company called FamousFlags.com.
The Orlando Sentinel dug into the legal side of the issue, speaking to a local college professor who said that altering an American flag doesn't constitute a crime. The newspaper mentions how cases involving flag burning have been deemed by the Supreme Court as protected under the First Amendment's free speech clause.
But The Sentinel adds that veterans clamored over the flag being in violation of federal code. Hurlbert researched the matter and decided to take it down.
"I can't describe how upset I was because you just don't do that to the American flag," Korean War veteran Don Van Beck told WFTV.
Outside of the local flag issue, Pew Research Center has released a new poll measuring president Obama's approval rating. Of 1,503 adults surveyed (538 being Republicans), 50 percent like the job he is doing, while 41 percent disapprove.