A “distress” signal hung on one of Yosemite National Park’s most iconic sites by staff members was done in protest of recent layoffs by the Trump administration.

The inverted Stars and Stripes hung on the side of El Capitan, a 3,000-foot wall of sheer granite, on Saturday, Feb. 22. 

Anand K Sankaran captured footage, and told media-gathering website Storyful the flag was hung upside-down just before “firefall,” a period of time when the small waterfall Horsetail Fall “can glow orange when it’s backlit by sunset,” the park’s website says. 

The symbol of protest was done by park staffers, media outlets report. The practice dates back at least 50 years, according to the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University.

A close-up look of the upside-down flag hung in protest at Yosemite National Park in California. (Brittany Colt, www.brittanycolt.com, @brittanycolt)

Last week, the Trump administration fired about 1,000 newly hired National Park Service employees who maintain and clean parks, educate visitors and perform other functions as part of its broad-based effort to downsize government, the Associated Press reported.

Facing outcry, the administration plans to restore at least 50 jobs across the parks. The park service also said in a new memo it will hire more seasonal workers than normal. The park service has about 20,000 employees.

The flag was hung at a time when many tourists look at Horsetail Fall for the phenomenon that creates an orange glow.  (Brittany Colt, www.brittanycolt.com, @brittanycolt)

At least a dozen of those who lost their jobs worked at Yosemite.

Neither the White House nor National Park Service responded to Fox News Digital requests for comment. 

Flying a flag upside down is traditionally a sign of “dire distress,” the United States Flag Code states.  

The Associated Press contributed to this report.