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A mammoth Confederate flag visible to travelers along Interstate 95 in Stafford County is an illegal sign that should come down, according to a zoning complaint filed by a Garrisonville lawyer.

The complaint was sent to Stafford’s zoning department on Sept. 19, the same day the county attorney publicly stated that officials could not legally force the property owners to take down the flag. The flag, which went up in 2014 near the intersection of I–95 and U.S. 17, is on private property.

“I have concluded, without equivocation, this county has no legal authority to require the removal of that Confederate flag from that private property,” County Attorney Charles Shumate said during a Board of Supervisors meeting Sept. 19.

Shumate’s remarks came after members of the public spoke out against the Confederate battle flag for the third time in as many board meetings. Although a few residents supported the flag, most people who addressed the board wanted it to come down.

Shumate said the Confederate flag is protected by the First Amendment right to free speech. Any new laws the board might pass to limit the height and size of flags in the future would not affect the one already flying high above I–95.

“The flagpole would be grandfathered,” he said.