Mexico flag hung by construction worker at Vancouver's Trump Tower

Diego Reyna said he had Mexican and Muslim friends who were working on the project

Diego Reyna said he had a special message for Mr Trump (Facebook)

The message was very clear: not all Mexicans are criminals and Donald Trump needs to acknowledge that.

Construction worker Diego Reyna, a Mexican-Canadian, made a personal appeal to the New York tycoon when he ascended the soon-to-be completed Trump Tower in Vancouver and hung a Mexican flag. He posed for a photograph in front of the banner and posted it on Facebook.

“WHY DID I PUT A MEXICAN FLAG ON THE ROOF TOP OF TRUMP TOWER VANCOUVER,” he wrote.

“Because from the concrete pouring, finishing, drywall, taping, wood forming and general labour, Mexicans were there, building it, doing good work. The comments Trump has made about us did not stop us from doing the high quality work we have always done, in our home country or when we migrate to the US or Canada.”

The Vancouver Sun said that Mr Reyna, a steel framer who lives in Port Moody, climbed to the top of the project after first taking the lift to the 20th floor of the building, which is still under construction.

Wearing a hard hat and steel-toed boots, he climbed the stairs the rest of the way to the top of the 63-storey project.

“I was a bit hesitant,” he told the newspaper.

“But then I figured, ‘Oh well, I am willing to face the consequences if I can send a message’. My intention was to show Donald Trump that [Mexican workers] work for him, but he also benefits from us.”

The flag was subsequently removed, but the photograph Mr Reyna snapped a photo of himself in front of it for Facebook, where it has been shared hundreds of times.

Mr Reyna was born in Chiapas, Mexico, and last year became a Canadian citizen. He does not work on the site of the Trump Tower but said he had several Mexican and Muslim friends who did, and that they had been offended by many of the tycoon’s comments.

“I did this to counter attack all his statements about Mexicans and Muslims. The last straw was when he spoke against women. He cannot be insulting people he is benefitting from,” he said.

Since the announced last summer that he was running for the White House, Mr Trump has been outspoken in his condemnation of migrants and suggested that whose crossing the border from Mexico were “rapists and murderers”. He has said that if he is elected president he will construct a wall along the US-Mexico border and force the Mexican authorities to pay for it.

Holborn Group, the owner of Vancouver Trump building, has said it will not comment on matters related to US politics or about Mr Reyna’s stunt.