The photo was first shared by Nicole Hopkins on February 7 on her Facebook account.
“I just want to know what class at Governor Thomas Johnson High School has this hanging in the window,” the post reads. Hopkins said she spotted the flag while driving into the high’s school parking lot to attend a basketball game on Friday night.
“I looked at it and I thought, wait a minute. I looked at it again, I looked at my boyfriend, and I was like, ‘Is that what I think it is?” Hopkins told the Frederick News-Post.
According to the school’s principal, Daniel Lippy, the flag was used during a history lecture on World War II and was left hanging in the classroom.
“We immediately responded to the concern and removed the flag,” Lippy said an email obtained by the Frederick News-Post. “We share the concerns in the community about the feelings of hatred and intolerance that the flag represents. We pride ourselves on accepting all members of our society and this message is central to who we are as Patriots.”
“We have taken steps to ensure that this never occurs again,” Lippy added.
In another statement, School Superintendent Terry Alban also confirmed that appropriate action would be taken in response to the incident.
“We sincerely regret the hurt it caused … It will be important to understand what happened and I will be following up with staff … so that we can take appropriate action,” Alban is quoted as saying by local outlet WTOP.
Frederick County Board of Education President Brad Young has yet to reveal whether or not the teacher who installed the flag as part of the lesson will be disciplined, although he did state that the teacher used “poor judgment” in displaying the flag, local outlet WFMD reported.