Alex Salmond has been told to take down a large Yes sign from his front garden in a row with council planning officials.
The former First Minister had the wooden slogan - painted in saltire colours - installed outside his Aberdeenshire home in 2020.
Council bosses have since ruled it constitutes political advertising and should be removed as it was installed without permission.
But Salmond - who launched the Alba Party last year after quitting the SNP - insists the sign has become a local landmark and says he has no intention of removing it.
He commissioned a local handyman to make the Yes sign from driftwood and said it helps ramblers find their way through his home village of Strichen.
Salmond has lived in a B-listed former mill in the quiet hamlet for years and is well-known in the local community.
“The sign has been up for 18 months since it was carved from driftwood by local Strichen man Mike Morgan," he told the Press and Journal.
“It’s a great piece of work and it’s not going anywhere.”
The former SNP leader added: “I have asked the council’s chief executive how much money they have already wasted on this bureaucratic silliness. Apparently they have had a team of officials out taking photographs.
"I have also added a few choice remarks about their lack of contribution to the amenity of the village.
"The best of Strichen is down to the voluntary efforts of locals like Mike.
"There are issues about freedom of speech but, basically, the council officials should get their priorities right and their facts straight."
Emails sent between council officials claimed the placard “is an election-related advertising sign”, which would have needed “advertising consent” before being erected.
The letter added: “No such consent is in place and therefore the sign comprises a breach of planning control.”
An Aberdeenshire Council spokeswoman said: “Following a complaint from a member of the public we have assessed the sign in question and advised Mr Salmond that, should he wish to keep the sign, he will require advertisement consent.”
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