Stephanie Wilkinson (pictured) has stepped down as a leader of her local business board

The owner of Red Hen in Virginia has stepped down as a leader of her local business board after protests over her decision to ask Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave the restaurant on Friday night.

Stephanie Wilkinson was the executive director of Main Street Lexington, a volunteer-based board tasked with revitalizing the town's business district and boosting its economic prosperity.

Elizabeth Outland Branner, president of the organization, told WSLS she had accepted Wilkinson's resignation on Tuesday.

'Considering the events of the past weekend, Stephanie felt it best that for the continued success of Main Street Lexington, she should step aside,' she said.

Wilkinson's restaurant became the center of a political storm over the weekend after she asked the press secretary, who was there dining with her family, to leave after a staff vote.

The restaurateur said she told Sanders's family they were welcome to stay, and when they declined, she claims she did not ask them to pay for their drinks or a cheese board they had been eating.

Her resignation came after about 75 protesters descended on her restaurant slamming her decision to boot out Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on Friday night

Sanders was dining with her family when the restaurant's chef called Wilkinson to let her know they had a special guest. After a staff vote, the Red Hen owner said she politely asked Sanders to leave

She told the Washington Post she was called by her chef at 8pm on Friday and came down to assess the situation before asking her staff what they'd like her to do.

'[I said] tell me what you want me to do. I can ask her to leave. They said "yes,"' Wilkinson explained.

She later elaborated on her choice, and said many of her staff members were gay and felt hurt by Sanders's decision to defend Trump on his desire to bar transgender people from serving in the military.

Sanders took to Twitter soon after to announce she had been kicked out of the small farm to table restaurant, and implied she had not been treated respectfully.

'Last night I was told by the owner of The Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left,' she wrote.

'Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so.'

The White House press secretary posted this tweet the next morning, sharing details about the incident and igniting a political storm

The Red Hen's (pictured) Facebook page has been bombarded with comments from people across the political spectrum, ranging from supportive comments from Trump critics to abuse from his supporters

Most protesters on Tuesday were Trump supporters, and they held flags and signs. One protester threw chicken poo towards the restaurant, but it only made it as far as the footpath

Wilkinson's actions led to protests outside her restaurant, with police forced to cordon off the road in front of the Red Hen, where an estimated 75 protesters brought signs, waved flags, and chanted slogans on Tuesday.

One unidentified individual even hurled chicken feces toward the restaurant, which landed on the sidewalk.

A number of Trump supporters showed up carrying signs which read ‘Homos are full of demons’ and ‘Unless they repent Let God Burn them (LGBT) 2 Peter 2:6.’

Those carrying anti-gay signs were identified by The Washington Post as Edgar and Dianna Orea of Michigan.

‘Homosexual are destroying America,’ Edgar Orea said through a bullhorn to a postal worker who declared her support for gay people.

‘America is going to hell,’ Dianna Orea said, ‘and we need people to repent and follow Jesus Christ.’