New York man refuses to lower Nazi flag flying at home

A central New York man who has been asked to remove a Nazi flag on his property says he is being hacked and that the flag is a "distress call."

Preble resident Jody Fish, who features a noose as his Facebook page cover photo, told the local paper in an interview Thursday that he raised the flag to get people's attention. Fish says he'll lower the flag when someone figures out who is hacking him.

By Friday afternoon, more than 600 people had signed a petition started by Shonei Schmoke asking town officials to do something about the Nazi flag.

"This goes beyond what is considered the owners 'rights.' Why this is still allowed and is somehow justifiable, is beyond me," Schmoke stated in the petition. "Hopefully, this can pick up some momentum and we can show the town of Preble/Homer that this in unacceptable and that Nazi's [sic] and Nazi symbolism should not be tolerated or protected."

Preble Town Supervisor Jim Doring says Fish refused to take the flag down when they talked. Doring says Fish told him he was flying it because of a dispute with a neighbor.

Experts say Fish is protected because the flag is on private property.

Preble is a town in Cortland County. It is about 20 miles south of Syracuse.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.