RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) – A Rutland man said the sight of a peace symbol in place of stars on an American flag prompted him to take the flag from an anti-war protester.

Graeme Rockefeller said that he associated the symbol with hate for Vietnam veterans.

“The symbol on that flag was used by people who blamed the soldiers for the war,” he told the Rutland Herald. “It’s a symbol of hate and degradation. Those people used their political clout to bring down and destroy the Vietnam veterans. Not the politicians, the soldiers. The symbol that man put on the flag is an insult to every American veteran.”

Rutland police are continuing to investigate the incident that began Friday when Rockefeller approached Charles Naismith who was with a group of protesters in downtown Rutland.

Rockefeller and Naismith agree that Rockefeller took the flag from Naismith.

Naismith claimed Rockefeller roughed him up; Rockefeller said once he had the flag he only tried to get away.

“The gentleman pulled up and started screaming things from his car,” said Naismith, 49. “I’m not sure – something about the flag. I didn’t say anything back to him. I just stood there.”

Naismith said in the ensuing scuffle the flag’s shaft was broken and Rockefeller pushed him around, placing him in a headlock.

Rockefeller, 56, said he confronted Naismith but that the confrontation wasn’t as physical as Naismith described it.

Rockefeller said he, too, opposed the war in Iraq. What he objected to, he said, was the peace sign on Naismith’s flag, which Rockefeller said he sees as a symbol of hate.

Rockefeller said he served in Vietnam in 1969 as a Navy corpsman with the 1st Marine Air Wing, and that he is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder related to his service.

Rockefeller said he was spat on by an anti-war protester in Los Angeles upon his return to the United States.

“A little hippy-ette wearing a large peace symbol walked up to me and screamed about being drug-crazed and killing babies,” he said. “I’m sure those people took shifts at the airport. She wasn’t there waiting for a flight.”

Naismith said he was sympathetic to Rockefeller.

Police recovered the flag was a trash receptacle.

AP-ES-05-15-04 1302EDT