England flag placed on Westbury White Horse removed by 'killjoys'

'It’s coming home. But sadly not in Westbury, it would seem, because the council doesn’t have a sense of humour. What harm was it doing?' asks fan

English Heritage hasremoved the red cross from the hill figure on the slope of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire down after it received complaints (Hellen Evans / Twitter)

English Heritage has removed red plastic which transformed the Westbury White Horse into an England flag.

The plastic was thought to have been put in place by an England fan in the run-up to the England team’s highly anticipated semi-final match against Croatia on Wednesday.

But the local council on behalf of English Heritage has now removed the red cross from the hill figure - on the slope of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire - after it received complaints.

The charity said they took it down to ensure the 175ft (53m) tall landmark – which has been adopted as a symbol for the town of Westbury and even Wiltshire as a whole – was not damaged.

But the move has sparked fury among fans as excitement over England’s chance to win the World Cup reaches fever pitch.

It is the first year England have won a place in the semi-finals since 1990 and fans are beginning to believe this could finally be the year football comes home.

Members of the public hit out at the move on a community Facebook page.

"They are doing no damage and think of the money coming to Westbury with people coming to see it. Killjoys. It is only concrete. Took you months to finally clean it,” Maurice John Bizeray wrote.

Samantha Mitchell added: “It’s coming home. But sadly not in Westbury, it would seem, because the council doesn’t have a sense of humour. What harm was it doing?”

People argued it was little more than “harmless fun” and branded those who took it down “killjoys”. Others chimed to offer to put the red cross back up.

“This was harmless fun and didn't harm anything the way it was done. Some people are killjoys and miserable people,” said another.

The red cross – which appeared to consist of two large red ribbons pinned to the horse to make the England flag - was taken down by Westbury Town Council on behalf of English Heritage.

English Heritage said it fully supports the England football team and wished them the best of luck on Wednesday in a statement.

"It's great to see people coming up with ingenious ways to show their support, but we do need to make sure that the Westbury White Horse is not damaged in the process," it said.

If England manage to beat Croatia in Moscow on Wednesday night, they will face France in the final on Sunday night. This would be the first time England has made it to a final since their only World Cup triumph, over half a century ago, in 1966.

Westbury's horse – which is said to be the oldest in all of Wiltshire – was restored in 1778 but many think it is considerably older than that.

While its exact origin remains obscure, it is thought to have been originally carved in 878 AD to honour King Alfred's victory over the Danes at the Battle of Ethandune.