Police in Northern Ireland are investigating the burning of the Irish tricolour and a poster of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Saturday's bonfire as a hate crime.
The bonfire in Moygashel, Co. Tyrone, attracted media attention when it was constructed as part of the unionist community's Twelfth of July festivities.
Given the title No Irish Sea Border Bonfire, in reference to opposition in unionist and loyalist communities to post-Brexit trading arrangements, the bonfire was lit at around 11pm after a parade followed by an address by loyalist activist Jamie Bryson.
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Featured on top of the bonfire was the Irish flag alongside a poster of Leo Varadkar, both of which were set ablaze during the celebrations on Saturday night.
There was also a small boat with a banner on its side which read “Good Friday Agreement? That ship has sailed”, and a copy of the 1998 accord with the words “null and void” printed over it.
Following the cross-community outcry that followed the bonfire, the Police Service of Northern Ireland announced on Sunday that the circumstances around the bonfire will be investigated.
Chief Inspector John Keers said: “We received a report on Saturday evening, 8th July, in relation to material placed on a bonfire in the Main Road area of Moygashel. “Police are treating this as a hate crime.”
The burning of the flag and poster was strongly criticised by leading unionists and nationalists across the North, as well as by prominent figures in the South.
Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson tweeted about the incident, saying: "Burning the flag of our neighbouring state and a poster of the head of government of that state is disrespectful and wrong. It is not culture!"
Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie also made his feelings known via Twitter: "This is not acceptable, it is childish and promotes hate. Again the many are let down by a few."
Fine Gael's Charlie Flanagan says the display only serves to undo much of what has been achieved in terms of healing divisions in Northern Ireland.
"Burning the National flag of a friendly neighbour & its head of government is gratuitously offensive & unacceptable,” he posted online.
"Such naked sectarianism has no place on the challenging path to peace, stability & reconciliation & must be condemned by all democrats.”
Most of the bonfires to mark Northern Ireland's traditional July 12 celebrations will be lit on July 11.
The Twelfth marks the victory of Protestant King William of Orange over Catholic King James II in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, an act that secured a Protestant line of succession for the British crown.
There has been controversy around bonfires in previous years, with election posters and Irish flags hung from the stacks of wood, with some towering more than 100ft high.
The DUP leader also rejected suggestions that there was any prospect of violence following an annual protest staged by the Orange Order at Drumcree in Portadown.
The Parades Commission refused permission for the order's return route to proceed along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road, a ruling maintained since 1998.
Orange Order members on Sunday held a short protest at the police lines barring them from the return route.
