Worker scales crane to remove Confederate flag upsetting residents in North Carolina

Updated Aug 27, 2015

When a Confederate battle flag found its way atop a construction crane in downtown Asheville, North Carolina, last week, a construction worker scaled the machine to remedy the situation.

According to the Asheville Citizen-Times, Asheville residents noticed the flag atop the crane which has become a familiar part of the city’s skyline as the $20 million Mariott-owned AC Hotel is built there.

One particularly concerned citizen, Jason Holland, tweeted to Mariott, and city officials and representatives about the flag.

He also called Mississippi-based Yates Construction, the operators of the crane, and spoke with several people at the company before sending along photos of the flag atop the crane, the paper reports.

“I told them this is a pretty progressive community and that having the highest flag flown in Asheville being the Confederate flag is going to cause some attention,” Holland said.

Shortly thereafter, a Yates worker climbed the crane and replaced the Confederate flag with a U.S. flag. Yates said it investigated the situation and is confident none of its workers placed the flag on the crane.

In a follow-up, the Citizen-Times reports the company had provided police with five still pictures taken from video footage from a camera on a nearby parking deck. Yates spokesman Kenny Bush said the company is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person or people responsible.