Officials at Alaska’s famed Denali National Park are finding themselves in hot water after they allegedly told construction workers in the park not to fly the American flag.
Republican Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska wrote National Park Service Director Charles Sams demanding an explanation for the actions of Denali National Park officials, noting that they asked construction workers to remove the flag “on the eve of Memorial Day weekend.”
News of the incident appears to have started after a local conservative publication, the Alaska Watchman, reported the incident, citing an unnamed construction worker at the park. Fox News Digital was unable to independently verify the details of the report.
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A view of Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley, on September 1, 2015, in Denali National Park, Alaska. (Lance King/Getty Images)
In his letter, Sullivan explained that a 3-by-5-foot American flag had been attached to one of the construction vehicles involved in the project, but “for reasons unknown, someone at the NPS instructed construction crews to remove the American flag.”
“This is outrageous, especially as we approach one of our most solemn national holidays, Memorial Day, when Americans come together to raise the flag and honor those who have given their lives in service to our country,” Sullivan wrote. “The American flag should be celebrated, not censored, by federal officials, especially during Memorial Day weekend.”
The Alaska senator said he saw no regulations banning the flying of the American flag on public land and argued such a restriction was odd, given that the purpose of national parks is for the “enjoyment of the American people.”
Senator Dan Sullivan (Brandon Belpool/Getty Images)
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Sullivan concluded by calling on Sams to investigate the incident and take steps to “ensure that such an incident never happens again in an American national park.”
A view near Denali, Alaska on September 17, 2019. (Joe Raedl/Getty Images)
The incident also appeared to spark protests by Alaskans, who organized a “patriotic flag-carrying motorcade” from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Denali National Park on Sunday. The protest, organized on Facebook, had 23 confirmed participants as of Sunday morning, with more than 100 expressing interest.
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The National Park Service and Denali National Park did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
