Prineville U.S. flag stolen and then found again

An embroidered American flag was stolen in Prineville, but thanks to a good Samaritan, it was found and returned in time for the Fourth of July.

There were 454 American flags displayed as part of the Crooked River Roundup parade. When time came to pick up the flags, one was missing.

The spine of each flag is embroidered with the name of a person, 95 percent of whom are veterans.

The group Flags of Prineville reported the flag missing on their Facebook page. The next day, Heather Mckay, owner of Bizzy Bees Flowers and Gifts, noticed the flag stuck in a tree with a broken pole.

“The flags a very symbolizing thing for me, and for people to either disrespect it by taking it from a home or from the street isn’t OK,” Mckay said Tuesday.

Mckay let Flags of Prineville know that she’d found the flag, but this isn’t the first time one of their embroidered flags has gone missing. In the past few years, at least five have been stolen.

“The flags are so amazing. It’s quite the spectacle, just so humbling driving down and seeing the flags. It’s just a beautiful thing, and it’s sad somebody decided to ruin that, it’s just not OK,” Mckay said.

Crook County Judge Seth Crawford is asking when the flags go out for Independence Day on Wednesday morning that people not touch them and leave the display to the Prineville Band of Brothers.

“We’ve been doing this for about six years, so we’ve lost a few. But people will occasionally tie the flag around in a knot, so it doesn’t flip around, and that’s just really disrespectful to our country and our flag,” Crawford said.

“And we would please ask people, if you’re not part of the crew from Band of Brothers taking them up or putting them down, just don’t touch them. It’s best if you leave them where they’re at and respect them,” he added.

The hundreds of flags will go up at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning and stay up all day for the Prineville parade and Fourth of July celebrations.