SAN DIEGO – A college student has been ordered to remove the American flag from his apartment balcony because it was deemed offensive.

ABC 10 reports San Diego State University sophomore Brad Smith moved into Boulevard 63 Apartments last month and hung a flag off his balcony.

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Then he received a notice ordering him to remove it.

“We were then told that it was for political reasons and that the flag could offend foreign people that live here, foreign exchange students,” Smith tells the news station.

“I’ve had friends and family fight to defend that flag.”

According to ABC 10:

The rules do say “no signs or other personal property may be kept outside the premises” and management determines what is “permissible and acceptable.”

Even the notice that Smith got said flags could not be displayed.

After being contacted by the news station, a representative of the apartment owner, Melanie Flaherty, claimed something else, saying, “We allow state and country flags.”

She called it a “misunderstanding.”

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In June, a Texas man was ordered to remove his American flag from his apartment because it was a “threat to the Muslim community.”

“What really stunned me is that she said it’s a threat towards the Muslim community,” renter Duy Tran said.

“I’m not a threat toward anybody.”

KHOU confronted the apartment manager and were given a statement that read in part:

While the Lodge on El Dorado admires our resident’s patriotism, we must enforce our property rules and guidelines. Such guidelines maintain the aesthetics of our apartment community and provide for the safety of all residents. The apartment community already proudly displays our country’s flag in a safe and appropriate manner at the entrances to our community.

The news station reported seeing other “patriotic symbols” hanging from apartment balconies that apparently were not problematic.

No one had complained about Tran’s flag.