The American flag that was raised by three firefighters over the wreckage of the World Trade Centre, one of the most enduring images of September 11, has disappeared.

A couple say they are the owners of an American flag that three firefighters hoisted amid the ruins of New York’s World Trade Centre in a photograph that became one of the most famous images of September 11.

US troops raiding Afghanistan have left behind copies of a photograph taken in the wake of the September 11 attacks.