Vandals shred U.S. flags, plant swastikas on veterans' graves for Memorial Day

Vandals shred U.S. flags, plant swastikas on veterans' graves for Memorial Day

Fc7ca74f579e43d685e353f2c95a7e4bpob It was a rough Memorial Day for veterans in one Washington state community.

On Saturday, members of the American Legion on Orcas Island placed more than 100 U.S. flags on the graves of local veterans.

On Sunday, they discovered that someone had stolen or destroyed 79 of the flags and placed small banners with the Nazi symbol on 13 graves.

"It was an outrage," Bob Folk, a Vietnam vet, tells the San Juan Islander.

Bb80d5688ca54ffb9f7c0c20420d017dpobHis group removed the swastikas and replaced the flags. They posted someone to watch over the graves for most of the night, but the vandals still managed to destroy some of the memorials.

As Memorial Day dawned, the veterans returned to find the replacement flags shredded. Nearly three dozen paper banners adorned with swastikas were planted in their place.

"This is not an act of free speech, this is a crime," the local sheriff says, according to the Associated Press.