A Scottish council has suspended the removal of saltire flags from lampposts after workers faced threats and intimidation.
Aberdeenshire Council said it had requested the assistance of Police Scotland before the operation would resume.
Flags have been put up in towns and cities across Scotland after a social media campaign by a group which protests against hotels housing asylum seekers.
Falkirk Council also said workers had been threatened and claimed the saltires were put up without permission, which posed a safety threat.
Aberdeenshire Council said abuse ‘is being reported to Police Scotland’ and ‘removal has been suspended for today’.
It said: ‘The assistance of Police Scotland will be requested to allow removal to resume.’
Aberdeen City Council also confirmed that it was removing flags.
A spokesman said: ‘We are aware that flags were installed on lighting columns without the relevant local permissions and, as such, will need to be removed in due course.’
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.
Falkirk Council said the flags had been removed for ‘safety reasons’.
A spokesman told the BBC: ‘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.’
Explaining its position, an Aberdeenshire Council spokesman said: ‘It is an offence under the Road (Scotland) Act 1984 to hang anything from street lights or to damage the road in any way.
‘Hanging items from street lighting columns presents a risk to road and pavement users, as well as the people placing these items on the streetlights.
‘The community can apply for permission to add installations or decorations to street lighting columns. However consent must be obtained and all works must comply with council policy. The hanging of flags would not meet the criteria contained within our policy.
‘Any unauthorised installations will be removed and the council can seek to recover costs from the responsible persons.’
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.’
STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said: ‘These cowardly attacks on local authority workers are utterly unacceptable.
‘No staff should face abuse at their work and it’s completely correct that their employer has pulled them from their duties.
‘It’s as despicable as it is moronic that those who seek to raise the saltire under the false guise of protecting our community would then seek to attack those public servants who serve our community.
‘The saltire represents tolerance, acceptance, respect and inclusion.
‘These principles are sacrosanct and those who seem intent on attacking our council staff would do well to remember it before they defile our nation’s flag.’
The spread of saltire flags in Scotland comes after similar scenes in England, where Union 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.