Identified how, why and by whom? That's the question, in both cases.
Symbols are in the mind of the beholder, they have no inherent meaning beyond what we choose to assign to them. The only real difference I see between the two and what people choose to believe they symbolize is the bias of the people viewing them.
Of course people who associate the Confederacy with the fight for slavery will see its battle flag as a racist symbol. Isn't that what it flew to defend? I realize it's not that simple, but it's the association that matters. And of course those who blame all of Islam for 9/11 will see a mosque, any mosque let alone one a few blocks from the site we consider so sacred it's still just a muddy hole in the ground, as a symbol of jihad and a thumbed nose in our general direction. The fact that Muslims live and work in the area and need a place to worship is quite irrelevant.
It's natural confirmation bias. No matter what anybody does someone, somewhere will see it the way they want to see it and get butthurt over it. That's human nature. *shrug*
Now the interesting question to me is the public v. private property distinction. But that's getting away from whether it's subjectively "insensitive".
Of course people who associate the Confederacy with the fight for slavery will see its battle flag as a racist symbol. Isn't that what it flew to defend?
Not if you actually asked the men who fought for the south, that was not their reason nor was freeing the slaves the reason the men of the north chose to fight. But if you ask most anyone in the late 20th century yes it was the reason. However if you look at klan photos from the mid 20th century. look at the flag they carried.
![kkk-parade.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Famericanhistory.si.edu%2FBrown%2Fhistory%2F1-segregated%2Fimages%2Fkkk-parade.jpg&hash=4a38001c41ba69b27c801461444f3dd3)
There are many more photos with the kkk carring the stars and stripes long before they stole the Confederate battle flag.