Police have been asked to investigate a mysterious incident in which a protest group illegally flew the Palestinian flag over Melksham Town Hall.

Andrew Meacham, Melksham Town Council’s committee clerk, said a group of men turned up in the Market Place in a yellow VW van at around 5.30pm on Saturday to put the flag.

“They were wearing high viz jackets and they put up a ladder and barriers," he said. "They went up the ladder and put up the flag.

“We were only made aware of it when the town mayor Simon Crundell phoned our head of operations Hugh Davies on Monday morning and said there was a Palestinian flag flying above the Union Flag on the flag pole. It was promptly removed.

“The town hall is in the Market Place, which is a public highway, so we can’t stop people using it.”

The incident was caught on the town hall CCTV system and a copy is now in the hands of Wiltshire Police, who have been asked to investigate.

A spokesperson for Wiltshire Police said: "The incident has been reported to us and we are making enquiries to determine if a crime has been committed."

The Wiltshire Times has attempted to contact Cllr Crundell for a comment. No response has been received so far.

A spokesperson for the West Wilts Palestinian Support Group said they knew nothing about the incident.

Last year, Home Secretary Suella Braverman urged police to use the “full force of the law” against shows of support for Hamas or bids to intimidate the UK’s Jewish community in the wake of the terrorist attack on Israel which began on October 7.

Violence in the Middle East has led to the death of more than 29,000 people so far and shows of public solidarity on both sides.

Many protests demonstrating in favour of Palestinian rights have been held in major cities across the UK as well as vigils to remember those who have already died during the conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorists.

In a letter addressed to chief constables in England and Wales last October, Mrs Braverman said: “Sadly, experience indicates that whenever Israel is attacked, Islamists and other racists seek to use legitimate Israeli defensive measures as a pretext to stir up hatred against British Jews and increase fear within the Jewish community.”