Aug. 30 (UPI) — North Carolinian Jan Carey on Wednesday was charged with two misdemeanor counts arising from the burning of a U.S. flag on Monday as an act of protest.

Carey, 54, is charged with one count of lighting and maintaining a fire in an area that is not designated for fires and without using a receptacle under approved conditions.

He also is charged with one count of creating a public hazard by lighting and tending a fire in a manner that threatened, caused damage to and resulted in the burning of property, real property and park resources.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and Assistant U.S. Attorney Travis Wolf filed the charges against Carey in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Each charge carries a maximum penalty of up to six months in jail and fines based on the amount of damage done.

Carey burned the flag in front of the White House on the same day that President Donald Trump signed an executive order making it illegal to burn the U.S. flag.

Carey was arrested and said he is a veteran who burned the flag in protest over the president’s executive order, CBS News reported.

Upon learning of the executive order, Carey told WUSA that he wanted to test the executive order.

The executive order also requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to challenge a 1989 Supreme Court ruling affirming that burning the U.S. flag is a form of protected speech