Queensland counter-terrorism police charged three men with displaying the neo-Nazi material after raiding three separate addresses on Tuesday.

Police discovered banners, stickers, flyers, computer devices and other items at the addresses in Toowong in Brisbane, and Pimpama and Oxenford on the Gold Coast.

Police allege one of the banners seized had been hung from a bridge over the Pacific Highway at Helensvale in November last year.

The men, aged 20, 21 and 42, are also alleged to be behind a number of incidents of offensive imagery and stickers being posted in public areas.

Counter-Terrorism Investigation Group, Operations Commander, Acting Detective Superintendent Leonie Steyger said two of the men were known to each other and were understood to have been responsible for slinging the banner over the highway.

The Pimpama man is alleged to have acted separately in allegedly distributing hate symbols.

Steyger said police were investigating whether the men were being directed by a wider neo-Nazi organisation.

“Any of these matters that come to our attention, we certainly dig quite deeply into their connections, their associations and any group they might be affiliated with,” Steyger said.

The 21-year-old Toowong man is facing two counts of wilful damage and two counts of contravening storage measures and other precautions about access to restricted items.

The 20-year-old Pimpama man has been charged with two counts of wilful damage.

The 42-year-old Oxenford man has been charged with one count of wilful damage and one count of public nuisance.

All three men are expected to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on 28 February.

Steyger urged members of the community to continue to report the display of hate symbols to police.

It comes after swastika armbands, SS daggers, and small figurines and cards of Adolf Hitler were also displayed for sale at a Gold Coast antique fair at the weekend.

“Like most members of the community I certainly don’t like to see these symbols displayed in public. I think most members of the community would be offended by this and it would spark concern,” Steyger said.

The State Government is due this year to introduce legislation that will ban public displays of hate symbols such as those related to Nazi ideology and make displaying them a criminal offence.