POLICE paid a visit to a homeowner after a Nazi swastika was flown at full-mast in the garden of a house.

The controversial flag was spotted in the garden of a property in Eirene Road, Worthing, on Saturday afternoon.

Although it was flying in the back garden, it could easily be seen by passersby in the adjacent South Avenue.

The Argus visited the home yesterday and was told by a woman in her 50s that the flag was erected for a photo shoot.

But she refused to go into further detail about the nature of the shoot.

She said: “My garden was being used by a photographer for a private photo shoot and that’s why it was there.

“The police came round and spoke to me but I’m not in trouble because I’ve done nothing wrong – it’s only a flag and it’s not illegal.

“People can put whatever flags they want up.”

When asked if she was a Nazi sympathiser, the woman added: “No, definitely not.”

Neighbours said they were upset to see the flag billowing in the wind, clearly visible to other residents and members of the public.

One man, who was leaving his late grandfather’s house nearby, said: “My grandfather fought in the Second World War.

“He’s not alive anymore but if he was and he saw that then he’d have probably got his gun and gone round there.

“It’s disappointing to see – whatever the excuse for it being there.”

Janet Goldsbrough-Jones, chairman of the Royal British Legion’s Worthing branch, said: “It’s not the flag itself that causes offence but the effect it has on some people.

“It is a strange thing to do.

“People are thinking more and more about the war at the moment for obvious reasons so despite whatever reason it was up for, it does seem a thoughtless thing to do.

“I feel sorry for the people who saw it and were upset by it.”

Background

The swastika is considered a sacred and auspicious symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

But it has been transformed into a symbol of hate following its use by Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany.

This has led the swastika to be largely associated with Nazism and white supremacy in most Western countries since the 1930s.

As a result, its use as a Nazi or hate symbol is prohibited in some countries including Germany.

It is not illegal to display in the UK unless it used to incite racial hatred.