WATCH: Protesters burn Australian flag on eve of national day
A group have set an Australian flag alight in an apparent protest in Sydney on the afternoon before Australia Day.
The group of males set the flag alight while standing on top of a spray painted Aboriginal flag in Newtown on Wednesday.
Video footage uploaded to social media shows the man setting the flag on fire with a lighter and later seemingly using lighter fluid to accelerate the blaze.
It's understood the group were activists campaigning for Aboriginal rights.
A witness at the scene has told the Daily Mail there were about four people involved.
“It was at the forecourt near the train station and there were a lot of people about heading home from work when it happened,” the unidentified witness told the Daily Mail.
“It caught a lot of people off guard.”
It is not known whether the incident was part of a larger protest.
Many Aboriginal people refer to Australia Day as “Invasion Day” as it marks the anniversary of the arrival in 1788 of the first British fleet.
Some Indigenous leaders argue it was the beginning of British colonisation of their lands and their brutal subjugation.
Many groups have called to change the date of the holiday out of respect to Indigenous Australians.
Police arrived at the scene of the protest, but the group behind the protests had dispersed and no arrests were made.
News break - January 26
