American flags were back flying above Bowling Green city facilities Saturday, just hours after their removal on the orders of Bowling Green Mayor Bruce Wilkerson stirred widespread controversy.

When the flags were first taken down Friday, Wilkerson declined to publicly cite a reason for their removal.

That stirred a large backlash on social media, including from two city commissioners, and spurred numerous individuals to take it upon themselves to raise flags on the bare flagpoles.

Wilkerson said Saturday he likewise received “many calls on the issue” but again declined to discuss the specifics of the reason for the flags being taken down beyond a city statement issued Friday afternoon. The statement said taking down the flags was a precaution due to “outside groups” potentially coming to the city. The city statement did not indicate what the groups were.

“Regarding recent information received about outside groups coming through our area today, it seemed prudent to protect our American flags by placing them in safekeeping for a brief period of time,” Wilkerson said in a statement posted to social media just before 2 p.m. Friday. “Our citizens are rightly concerned about our nation’s symbol. They will be returned tomorrow.”

By then, many flags were already flying over City Hall and at Fountain Square Park.

Mike Montgomery, an Army veteran and accountant whose office is situated downtown, said Friday he went outside to support a man who had brought a flag to raise where one had been removed at Fountain Square Park.

Montgomery said he emailed Wilkerson for information about why the flags had been removed from city properties and said afterward he did not understand the decision to remove the flags.

“If taking down the flag will placate a group, then they weren’t much of a threat in my opinion,” Montgomery said. “And if we’re in that much danger, then where’s the protection? Why not call out the state police?”

Bowling Green resident Eric Phelps late Friday morning raised a flag on the pole in front of City Hall. Phelps said he had other flags he planned to install on city flagpoles.

“I spoke with the mayor and asked why the flag was down,” Phelps told the Daily News. “He told me that he could tell me, but I would have to keep our conversation confidential. I refused. … That flag has been bloodied, torn and soiled on countless battlefields and has always been picked up. There is never an excuse for it coming down.”

City commissioners Brian “Slim” Nash and Dana Beasley Brown released statements on social media Friday criticizing the way the flag removal was handled.

“Today, Bowling Green Mayor Bruce Wilkerson ordered that the Flag of the United States be taken down at all or some city buildings. The Mayor made this decision without consultation or input from the Bowling Green City Commission which, I believe, is improper. Only he can answer as to why he made this decision,” Nash wrote.

Beasley Brown wrote, “I DO NOT support the removal of the American flag – especially on Juneteenth a day on which we celebrate freedom. The Mayor and the City Manager made the decision to remove the flags in secret. I was not aware of the decision until the media reached out to ask for a comment. This is unacceptable and I am outraged!”

Wilkerson on Saturday again declined to discuss specifics regarding the reason the flags were taken down. He said that “one good thing I can find in this is that it shows the true patriots in our community I’m proud to be part of.”

He said many people he talked to offered to stand guard if there is another threat of flags being removed.

“It’s an option we will consider in the future,” he said.