Falkirk Council says it is "unacceptable" that council staff were abused and threatened while attempting to remove Scottish flags from lampposts at the weekend.
The council says it acted immediately "for safety reason" to remove flags that had been attached to street lighting in Falkirk town centre - apparently as part of a national protest called 'raise the colours', which coincided with a local demonstration against housing asylum seekers in hotels.
The council says that attaching any sort of weight to lampposts, particularly in poor weather and when using a ladder to do so, is dangerous.
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A Falkirk Council spokesperson said: “Over the weekend Falkirk Council acte