A man from Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region is being investigated for disrespecting the national flag, a crime punishable by up to three years in prison.

The People’s Procuracy in Cai Lay Town, Tien Giang Province, has approved a decision to probe Nguyen Thanh Truong, a 27-year-old local, for “desecrating the national flag,” a source told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Saturday.

Reports said that authorities in his hometown, Tan Binh Commune in Cai Lay, announced that they had gained the title of ‘a new rural commune,’ which recognizes local socio-economic development.

Officials hung national flags, colored flags, and banners along a road from the Tan Binh People’s Committee, which is the executive branch of the local government, to Ward 3 in Cai Lay to celebrate the title and prepare for a ceremony to formally acknowledge it on December 23.

In the small hours of the same day, Truong walked to the road in front of his house and took down four national flags before throwing them into the nearby river out of disappointment over personal issues.

He then returned home and slept.

At 7:00 am, the man was pulling down a banner and a colored flag when he was caught in the act by local authorities.

Truong admitted to investigators that he had thrown away the flags and banner over his frustration with his personal problems.

Those who deliberately desecrate the national flag, national emblem, and national anthem shall receive a warning or face a penalty of up to three years of alternative sentencing or 6-36 months in jail, according to the Criminal Code of Vietnam.

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