Georgia law requires Confederate flags to fly at Stone Mountain Park, official says

A Confederate flag flies at the base of Stone Mountain Tuesday, June 30, 2015, in Stone Mountain, Ga. At Georgia's iconic Stone Mountain, where the Confederacy is enshrined in a giant bas-relief sculpture, the Ku Klux Klan once held notorious cross-burnings and rebel battle flags still wave prominently, officials are considering what to do about those flags. The park, which now offers family-friendly fireworks and laser light shows, is readying its "Fantastic Fourth Celebration" Thursday through Sunday, and multiple Confederate flag varieties are still displayed at the mountain's base. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (The Associated Press)

A Confederate flag flies at the base of Stone Mountain Tuesday, June 30, 2015, in Stone Mountain, Ga. At Georgia's iconic Stone Mountain - where the Confederacy is enshrined in a giant bas-relief sculpture, the Ku Klux Klan once held notorious cross-burnings and rebel battle flags still wave prominently, officials are considering what to do about those flags. The park, which now offers family-friendly fireworks and laser light shows, is readying its "Fantastic Fourth Celebration" Thursday through Sunday, and multiple Confederate flag varieties are still displayed at the mountain's base. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (The Associated Press)

Visitors pass a Confederate flag as it flies at the base of Stone Mountain Tuesday, June 30, 2015, in Stone Mountain, Ga. At Georgia's iconic Stone Mountain — where the Confederacy is enshrined in a giant bas-relief sculpture, the Ku Klux Klan once held notorious cross-burnings and large Confederate flags still wave prominently — officials are considering what to do about those flags. The park, which now offers family-friendly fireworks and laser light shows, is readying its "Fantastic Fourth Celebration" Thursday through Sunday, and multiple Confederate flag varieties are still displayed at the mountain's base. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (The Associated Press)

The head of a state authority that oversees Georgia's Stone Mountain Park says Confederate flags will continue flying at a memorial plaza there because state law prevents their removal.

Bill Stephens, chief executive officer of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, said Wednesday that the law would have to be changed for the flags to be removed.

Stephens said the park's Flag Terrace, where multiple versions of Confederate flags fly, was donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1964. He said it's considered a memorial and, as such, can't be removed or relocated under Georgia law.

Earlier, Stephens said the park's leaders were considering what to do about the flags.

The rebel banner has come under renewed criticism nationwide after a June 17 church massacre in Charleston, South Carolina.