Group raises giant confederate flag over highway

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - A massive Confederate battle flag has been raised just off a major highway outside Charlottesville.

A group called The Virginia Flaggers said it raised the 30-by-50 foot (9-by-15 meter) flag Saturday on private property just off Interstate 64. The flagpole is 120 feet (37 meters) high.

The group calls the flag the ``Charlottesville I-64 Spirit of Defiance Memorial Battle Flag.'' It says the flag is a response to the city of Charlottesville's vote to remove statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas ``Stonewall'' Jackson.

The controversy over the statues helped draw protests that culminated in a white nationalist rally in August that turned deadly.

The organization says it has raised more than two dozen Confederate flags since 2013.