Police have taken down a flag hoisted in Bilefahi island of Shaviyani Atoll by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party.

Officers of the police began their operation to remove the flag, hoisted atop a banyan tree in the island’s woodlands, late Sunday morning.

Ahmed Nifaz, a member of the island’s local government council, said that a number of officers had climbed the tree to reach the flag.

A tweet posted by the party’s branch in Bileffahi sent out a tweet claiming that about 15 officers had been on the island.