The South Carolina police arrested a woman who took down a Confederate flag. Photo: AP

A woman climbed on Saturday flagpole waving Confederate Capitol grounds in South Carolina and temporarily withdrew the emblem despite police orders.

Bree Newsome, age 30 years and resident of Charlotte, North Carolina, was halfway up a steel flagpole over 10 meters high just after dawn Saturday when state police told her to come down. Instead, Newsome went up and removed the flag.

She and a man who climbed a wrought iron fence over 1.2 meters high to get to the flag were arrested.

The flag, which is protected by state law, was raised again about 45 minutes later. Proponents of keeping the flag in the place planned a rally at the memorial later Saturday.

Sherri Iacobelli, a spokeswoman of the State Security Department, said Newsome and James Ian Tyson, 30, also of Charlotte, were accused of vandalizing monuments in the grounds of the State Capitol. State law sees it as a misdemeanor which carries a maximum fine of $5,000 and imprisonment of up to three years or both.

An employee at the Alvin Glenn Detention Center, where they were taken both said they did not know if they had lawyers. Around the time of her arrest, Newsome issued a statement to the media by email.

"We lowered the flag today because we can not keep waiting. We can not go on another day, "he said." It's time for a new chapter where we are sincere about the dismantling of white supremacy and building true racial justice and equality. "

(With information from AP)