Council workers have been threatened while removing saltire flags from lampposts in parts of Scotland.
Falkirk and Aberdeenshire councils said they would ask police to get involved after their staff were subject to intimidation and threats.
The flags have been put up in towns and cities across Scotland following a social media campaign by a group which organised an anti-asylum seeker protest.
Councils said the saltires were being removed because they were put up without permission and posed a safety threat.
Aberdeen City Council has also confirmed that it is removing flags.
Save Our Future and Our Kids Future – one of the Facebook pages behind the flags campaign – said it was “disgusted” by the councils’ response.
It said it had now started fundraising to buy more flags.
A spokesperson for Falkirk Council said the flags had been removed for “safety reasons”.
They added: “In some instances council employees suffered intimidating behaviour from people which prevented them completing this task.
“This is unacceptable and the council will liaise with Police Scotland to take action against those responsible.”
Aberdeenshire Council said it had seen a sharp rise in flags being flown from streetlights and reports of flags being painted on roads.
“Sadly, we have also seen a rise in our staff being threatened when taking them down,” they added.
“It is entirely unacceptable to threaten any of our staff carrying out their jobs, and we will be asking police to get involved.”
They said it was an offence to “hang anything from street lights, or to damage the road in any way”.
“Any unauthorised installations will be removed and handed in to the local police station where the owners can collect them,” they said.
Meanwhile, videos posted on social media show people climbing lampposts with a ladder to cut down flags which had been put up in Maryhill, Glasgow.
A Facebook group called The Tartan Team, which claims to be behind the flags in Maryhill said: “Many many many more flags will be going up.
“It’s going to be covered over the next couple of weeks. You won’t be able to go anywhere without seeing our beautiful flag.”
Why are flags being flown?
The spread of saltire flags in Scotland comes after similar scenes in England, where union jacks and St George’s flags were hung on lampposts and painted on traffic islands.
Groups on social media, such as the Midlands-based Weoley Warriors, have been encouraging people to take part.
They describe themselves as a “group of proud English men with a common goal to show Birmingham and the rest of the country of how proud we are of our history, freedoms and achievements”.
They have raised more than £21,000 through a crowdfunding campaign for “flags, poles and cable ties”.
In some other areas, the raising of flags appears to be spontaneous, coinciding with a highly charged political time in the UK when it comes to national identity and belonging.
There have been protests outside some hotels housing asylum seekers where flags have featured heavily among the placards.
