Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ? In gift and flower shops across Saudi Arabia, the flush of red has started to fade.

Each year shortly before Feb. 14, the country’s religious police mobilize, heading out to hunt for — and confiscate — red roses, red teddy bears and any signs of a heart. In a country where Valentine’s Day is banned, ordinary Saudis find they must skirt the law to spoil their sweetheart.

The Valentine’s Day holiday celebrating love and lovers is banned in Saudi Arabia, where religious authorities call it a Christian celebration true Muslims should shun.

The kingdom’s attitude toward Valentine’s Day is in line with the strict school of Islam followed here for a century. All Christian and even most Muslim feasts are banned in the kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, because they are considered unorthodox creations that Islam does not sanction.

Beyond the ban, it is a challenge for unmarried couples to be together on Valentine’s Day or any other day because of strict segregation of the sexes. Dating consists of long phone conversations and the rare tryst. Men and women cannot go for a drive together, have a meal or talk on the street unless they are close relatives. Infractions are punished by detentions.

Valentine’s items descend underground, to the black market, where their price triples and quadruples. Though taboo, Valentine’s Day still gets a fair amount of attention in Saudi society.

Sheik Abdullah al-Dakhil, head of the religious police, known as the muttawa, in Thumama, a town outside Riyadh, told Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper that “despite awareness campaigns and the confiscation of flowers, chocolate and other items, there were 15 infractions” for Valentine’s Day indiscretions last year.

In religious lectures at schools, teachers warn students against marking the occasion, noting St. Valentine was a Christian priest, according to an educational supervisor speaking on condition of anonymity.

St. Valentine is believed to have been a 3rd-century martyred Roman priest or bishop. Why the holiday became a celebration of lovers is unclear, but some theories say it stemmed from his Feb. 14 feast date falling close to a pagan love festival or that it was because mid-February was seen in Europe as the time of year when birds start mating.

Despite the restrictions, in Saudi Arabia, Valentine’s Day has caught on, partly due to satellite TV, where the occasion, like other holidays, is worked into programming fare.

In most cases, the gifts are not presented on Valentine’s Day. A woman may not get permission from her parents to go out that night, and stores do not want to be saddled with the incriminating items when the muttawa begin making their rounds. Shops either deliver the gifts or call recipients a few days early and ask them to pick up their presents.