A Facebook post was shared Friday morning detailing the theft of a pride flag and painting of hate imagery on a front door on Whittier Drive. The Owensboro Police Department reports they are investigating said incident.
Homeowner Nick Preston said that this isn’t the first time a pride flag in his yard had been stolen. He initially purchased a lawn flag as a sign of support for the LGBTQ+ community roughly 3 weeks ago, which he stated was stolen a week after being put up.
“The first time is what inspired me to get the Ring camera which caught this one,” Preston said.
This flag had been up roughly two weeks before the incident occurred. Preston said he was nervous that the flags would get stolen so he purchased excess in the event that it would.
But this time when the flag was stolen, his fiancé woke up to the painting of a swastika on his front door. He said ultimately the flag is replaceable, but the spray paint is what “set him off.”
“I was in pure shock. I don’t care about the flag or anything like that, I can replace that, but to spray paint my door with a logo that represents so much hate while my kid is sleeping in that house, that is what set me off,” Preston said.
He noted his daughter was roughly 4 feet on the other side of the door.
OPD Public Information Officer Dylan Evans said that based on the video provided by the victim, the suspects involved appear to be juveniles.
“The Owensboro Police Department received the report of a Criminal Mischief and Theft yesterday morning and it has been assigned to a Detective for investigation. In reviewing surveillance video the suspects involved appear to be juveniles, therefore the Owensboro Police Department can not release video at this time,” Evans said.
