Lily pads can be placed in protected spawn area by a non-Op player. Lily pads will persist, although the player is able to remove them. Tested with both survival and creative modes and issue happens in both modes.
Related issues
duplicates
Comments
Torabi
Ezekiel
Is this still a concern in the latest Minecraft version 13w42b? If so, please update the affected versions in order to best aid Mojang ensuring bugs are still valid in the latest releases/pre-releases.
migrated
Does the lily pad persist if you exit the world and re-enter it? Sounds like MC-15651.