Students opposed to allowing a 鈥渞ising sun鈥� Japanese flag in a 91原创 classroom have launched an online petition that has collected thousands of names.

Since the Change.org petition was launched by Walnut Grove Secondary School Grade 9 student B.J. Moon, more than 5,700 signatures had been collected as of Sunday morning.

In an online statement, Moon said he and other students who complained about the flag after a history teacher pinned it to a wall, are 鈥渁ll Koreans and descendant of a country that was colonized by Japan.鈥�

鈥淭hinking of the tragedies my grandparents went through, we cannot imagine how someone wouldn鈥檛 find this symbol as inhumane and unethical,鈥� Moon said.

Moon said the teacher declined to move the flag and told them that other 鈥淎sian-descendant鈥� students in the school might find it 鈥渄isrespectful.鈥�

They want the flag removed, 鈥渙r at least [moved so it is] not widely visible from our learning environment.鈥�

鈥淚f possible, the flag should not be on the wall, where it is seen from the hallway.鈥�

Moon said the flag was considered 鈥渆xtremely offensive in countries of former Japanese imperialism as it reminds [us of] Japan鈥檚 former war crimes.鈥�

鈥� 鈥� it is absolutely necessary to remember the atrocities that the Japanese committed鈥� the message said.

Among the crimes the petition referred to was the thousands of 鈥漜omfort women鈥� who were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied territories like Korea, China and the Philippines.

Japanese governments have in the past apologized and offered compensation for the forcible prostitution of women in Korea, but both the apologies and amount of funds are viewed as inadequate by many Koreans.

鈥淸These] are historic events that aren鈥檛 taught in school 鈥� at least not with the same degree of importance as that of the Holocaust,鈥� Moon said.

According to a Wikipedia online entry, Korean campaigns against the Japanese flag gained intensity in 2011 when a Korean athlete accused of making an offensive gesture said it was because he was annoyed at having seen a rising sun flag in the stadium.

One year later, 鈥渨ar crime flag鈥� was coined to describe the banner in South Korea.

Japanese commentators have rejected the campaign, saying the United States, who fought Japan, has not protested formally against the Rising Sun Flag.

After the war, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force continued to use the rising sun flag as its ensign.

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School board spokesperson Ken Hoff said the flag was meant to serve as a 鈥渢alking point鈥� for a history classroom and was 鈥渘ot meant or intended to give offence.鈥�

Hoff said the issue would be followed up further with the students on Monday.

Moon said he didn鈥檛 expect the response the petition generated, and that he hoped the issue could be worked out.