Sign at historic Woodfield Inn draped with Confederate flag

FLAT ROCK — Covered for several years by a tarp, the sign on Greenville Highway in front of the historic Woodfield Inn on Thursday afternoon was draped on one side with a Confederate flag and on the other by an American flag.

It's unclear why. A Lightning reporter who drove to the site to check encountered a man picking up sticks in the driveway and asked him whether the sign was for an event. "Why, does it bother you?" the man responded. "There is no event."

The man seized the opportunity to criticize the Lightning's story in March of 2020 about the real estate holdings of his father, Hasan Mansouri, who had died on Feb. 7 that year. Mansouri had two sons, Werner, of Myrtle Beach, and Karim, who according to his Facebook page manages a country club in Bahrain.

The man in the driveway of the property refused to answer any questions about the flags, which were firmly strapped onto the sign's structure. He then ordered the reporter off the property and threatened to bring a charge of trespassing.