Hundreds of flags stolen along July 4 parade route in Druid Hills

The organizers of an annal Fourth of July parade in Druid Hills say hundreds of American flags were stolen along the 1-mile route.

Credit: � 2019 Cox Media Group.

Credit: � 2019 Cox Media Group.

The organizers of an annal Fourth of July parade in Druid Hills say hundreds of American flags were stolen along the 1-mile route.

The organizers of an annual Fourth of July celebration in Druid Hills say someone uprooted hundreds of American flags along the parade route.

Roughly 750 small flags were placed in yards and along sidewalks, but most of them have been taken ahead of next week’s event, Channel 2 Action News reported.

Kit Eisterhold, president of the Druid Hills Civic Association, said he had just finished placing the flags every few feet along the 1-mile route in his DeKalb County neighborhood when he noticed some of them were gone.

“A few hours later, I drive and more of them are missing up North Decatur (and) Oakdale,” Eisterhold said. “Then I realized that all of them are being picked up ... They took about 500 or so, maybe a little bit more than that.”

Late Sunday evening, a neighbor’s surveillance system captured what appears to show a man and woman walking down the sidewalk and pulling up the flags shortly after 11 p.m. Some of the flags were then discarded in nearby bushes, Channel 2 reported.

Now, Eisterhold is scrambling to replace the hundreds of missing flags ahead of next Thursday’s parade.

“Somebody took a lot of time to put them out,” homeowner Caroline Moise said. “Now they’re gone and it just feels unpatriotic.”

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