The flags were put up by Shree Karnamukteshwar Mahadev Trust on December 25 to welcome the saints arriving here on February 5 for the foundation stone- laying ceremony to renovate the temple.

Speaking on the occasion, Mayor Joitaram Patel said the people associated with the renovation work were doing ``a good deed''. He thanked them for taking the initiative to welcome the saints by putting up flags.

Patel said people of all religions had the right to put up flags in the City. He said although Muslims or Christians did not believe in putting up flags, if they did so, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation would not object.

Kaushik Mehta, general secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad's State unit, said good sense should prevail upon those who pulled down the flags, and they should desist from doing so infuture. ``We have cooperated with the public by performing the puja in a corner. If we wanted, we could have done so in the middle of the road,'' he said.

Mehta accused the media and international television channels of defaming the Hindu religion. He said Hindus had never harassed or exploited the followers of any other religion. Rather, Hindus were the only ones to believe in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (global brotherhood), he said.

Later, speaking to The Indian Express, Ajit Shastri, trustee of the temple, said some unidentified anti-social elements had pulled the flags down. He claimed the saffron flag, representing Bharatmata, was 5,000 years old and respected by all communities.