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A couple things about symbols.
First is they are mutable. That means that their meaning can be changed and the meaning of them is subjective. Swastikas and upside-down crosses are classic examples.
Second is, in a nation with freedom of speech, no symbol is sacrosanct.
If you don't want MY meaning of YOUR symbol to be applied to it, put it someplace outside the public square.
If you do put it in the public square, be braced to seeing it defaced and destroyed and to take it with a shrug.
Combining the first and second points... In many cultures walking or stepping on a symbol is the ultimate form of disrespect for it. Putting your symbol in a place meant to be walked on is saying, to them, that you've contempt for your own symbol by inviting people to tread upon it.
The people who don't understand that had to Google "mutable."
Back in the good old days in Japan, the Tokugawa authorities would check for "kakure Kurishtain" (hidden Christians) by putting a plaque with a crucifix or picture of the Virgin Mary on the ground and requiring everybody passing through a check point to stamp on it. Even European traders were required to do this; the Japanese only allowed Dutch Protestants to enter Japan, and they had to stay at Deshima in Nagasaki.
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