Residents of a small Quebec town have banded together to demand the reinstatement of their flag after their mayor removed it from the city council chamber.

More than a hundred locals in Saint-Denis-de-Brompton, a township of 3,200 near the Vermont border, stormed into council chambers on Monday intent on seeing mayor Claude Boucher restore the flag he took down after his 2009 election.

The flag in question? A red Canadian Maple Leaf.

When passions soar over flags in Quebec, they tend to involve the province's beloved fleur-de-lis, a symbol imbued with strong political meaning. The fleur-de-lis is used almost exclusively in the province, and in 1999 the Quebec National Assembly decreed the blue and white flag to be their national emblem.

Boucher is a former Parti Quebecois MNA and made the decision to remove the Maple Leaf from its place next to the provincial flag when he took office two years ago.

As the Globe and Mail reports, the move angered a number of residents, many of whom identify as Quebeckers first but remain proud of Canadian symbols, like the flag and the national anthem.

"Removing the Canadian flag is like spitting on the heads of my ancestors," protestor Renald Laroche told the paper. "We have to be patriotic. Our veterans fought for who we are and I'm never going to give up and turn my back on them."

In addition to Laroche, a number of locals mobilized themselves into a grassroots movement intent on pressuring Boucher to restore the flag. Their efforts failed last year, but organizers are committed to seeing the task through.

"As far as I know Quebec hasn't separated yet. I ask that the mayor respect that," said protestor Willie Larochelle, who also happens to be the town's former mayor.

Larochelle said many feel the maple leaf is part of the community's heritage and added that it appears in the town's official logo.

Some organizers say they have considered reaching out to the Harper government to see if there's a way to get legal protection for those who wish to fly the national flag.

At the same time, Boucher has the support of a number of locals who favour the banishment of the Canadian flag.

Meanwhile, the mayor has remained fairly quiet on the subject, except to express his surprise over all the fuss. "I didn't know the flag could stir so much passion," he reportedly said on Monday. Faced with mounting pressure, however, Boucher said he may reconsider his position.