A swastika flag flying in the backyard of a house in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Photo: YouTube screenshot.

Residents of a small town on Prince Edward Island, Canada were stunned last week when a swastika flag was sighted prominently flying in a resident’s backyard.

Charlottetown resident David Mol, a child of refugees from Nazism, told CBC News, “The fact that that flag is flying, fluttering in the winds that blow across this big democratic country of ours is repulsive.”

“It’s a symbol of hate. There’s not one good thing that that symbol stands for,” Mol said of the swastika.

“I understand it’s not against the law, but it’s against the Island philosophy,” said Leo Mednick, president of the Prince Edward Island Jewish community. “I don’t think that’s the kind of place that we want to live in.”

“Some people may not understand the effect it has on people who’ve been through the Holocaust or had family members who passed away there,” he added, calling the swastika “a dagger to hurt people, to upset people.”

In response to the outcry, the local police force said they would speak with the owner of the property and try to persuade him to lower the offensive flag.

At some point on Friday, the flag was taken down and replaced with the flag of Prince Edward Island.

Watch footage of the flag flying below: