2 U.S. flags honoring World War II veterans stolen from Bend installation, recovered
Bend Heroes Foundation chairman says 6 flags have been taken from installation over the years
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- There were dozens of World War II veterans' flags installed at the Veterans Memorial Bridge and on Wall Street on the morning of the Fourth of July, to honor the "Greatest Generation." It didn't take long for the number to change, as two flags apparently were stolen, but later recovered.
Joseph Sharpe, a 95-year-old World War II veteran, said Monday a stranger reached out to him by phone, telling him he found Sharpe's embroidered flag at Harmon Park.
Dick Tobiason of the Bend Heroes Foundation said, "He (Sharpe) called me last night as we were getting ready to put the flags away and said, 'Someone just brought my flag to me.'”
Bend police also found a second flag that also apparently was stolen from the flag installation. Lieutenant Clint Burleigh said two officers recognized the second marked flag at Columbia Park.
"You can identify the flags because of the names on them and because of the size of them," Burleigh told NewsChannel 21. "They're really big."
It's also not the first time people have taken flags from the Bend Heroes Flag installation over the years.
"People will sometimes take the flags from the bridge or downtown specifically on July 4th," Burleigh said. "We've recovered several flags in the last couple of years."
Tobiason told NewsChannel 21 a total of six flags have been taken from the Bend Heroes Flag installation throughout the years.
"If a person wants a flag, and it has to be for a veteran, then they can call me," Tobiason said.
Burleigh had a warning to those who might be tempted to take one of the flags on display.
"If you take that flag, it's not yours. And you remove it and you take off with it -- it's technically theft," he said. "If you damage the flag, it could be a criminal mischief, because that property belongs to someone else."
Of the six stolen flags, all but one has been recovered.
