Copy & pasting cells with a drop down in a protected sheet

Hi all,

I've tortured uncle google for hours now, but can't seem to get anywhere with this:

I have a macro that copies and pastes a specific set of rows to the next available blank row. Column B of those rows has a Data Validation drop down referencing to another sheet (=Referencedata!$C$3:$C$44).
Works fine. But now I want to protect the sheet to prevent users from removing any rows. So I protect the sheet, tick select locked cells, select unlocked cells and Insert Rows only.

...and now the drop down is not available anymore after pasting.

I've tried unlocking all cells in both the affected sheet as well as the sheet with the validation data. To no avail.

Help, please?

When it pastes is it PastAsValues or just a paste?

Also, please attach a sample workbook. Make sure there is just enough data to demonstrate your need.

Remember to desensitize the data.

Click on GO ADVANCED and use the paperclip icon to open the upload window.

View Pic

It's paste as Value & Source Formatting

I attached the workbook. Appreciate your help.