Group wants Confederate flag removed in Stafford Co.

STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. (WUSA9) -- Calls to take down Confederate flags across the country have been mounting ever since a fatal shooting at a South Carolina church.

A petition has been circling online for a large Confederate flag to be taken down off Interstate 95 in Stafford County. The flag can be seen as you drive north or south on I-95 at the Falmouth exit.

A group called Virginia Flaggers raised the large confederate flag last year on Wayne Cash's property. He refused to talk on camera and appeared to lock the door behind him.

Roughly 400 people have signed an online petition organized by the local NAACP chapter in Stafford.

Kathleen Huddle is one of the people who signed it.

"Everything that's happened in Charleston ever since then with all of the churches burning and the whole topic of race, racism. When even the most conservative governors are saying take this flag down, I think it's a hurtful and a divisive symbol. It's time for it to be gone," Huddle, a Fredericksburg resident, said.

Virginia Flaggers says it's a symbol of pride and a tribute to their ancestors who died for the South.

"I was born in Arkansas. I've lived in Virginia my whole life, I understand our history but pride in what? The Confederate is about a war that should be relegated to history. If you are flying a flag that size there is something more on your mind than just pride in your ancestry," Huddle said.

Cash is also flying the American flag upside down, a sign of distress.

Neighbors say Cash recently put up another sign that says no trespassing.

This is the second flag raised by the Virginia Flaggers. Two years ago, they raised one near Richmond, also off I-95. A petition against the first flag gained 20,000 signatures.

Some across Virginia have offered the Virginia Flaggers land to fly more flags.

Aston Haughton, president of the Stafford County chapter of the NAACP released the following statement about the flag:

More than a year ago, I-95 commuters woke up to find themselves staring at a giant confederate flag. This flag is considered a symbol of pride to Americans; however, to African Americans, it represents racial hatred and oppression. Even after the recent calls to remove the flag in light of the Charleston massacre, we continue to see citizens with evil intentions driving through our communities, honking their horns while displaying the flags in an effort to incite a race riot. The Stafford Branch of the NAACP plans to petition the Governor to ban all symbols of racial hatred from public places in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Like this story? Like WUSA9 on Facebook.

RELATED STORIES:

National Cathedral Dean wants Confederate glass removed

'Black Lives Matter' painted on Confederate statue in Va.

Va. governor wants Confederate flag off license plates