WENHAM, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Police are searching for a suspect in Wenham after Pride flags were stolen off of two locations there for the second time in two months.
The First Church in Wenham and the Wenham Museum reported the stolen flags to Wenham Police on Saturday. The church said their flag had been cut down overnight. The museum also said a similar "Progress" flag was cut down on their property on Saturday. This is the second time the flags have been stolen from the organizations since late May.
The two organizations held a press conference with Wenham Police on Tuesday morning, where Police Chief Kevin DiNapoli expressed disbelief at the thefts.
"Treat people good. Be a good person. It's so unbelievably basic...why anyone, or any people would think it would be okay to do something like this, I can't process it," he said.
However, DiNapoli said the police were not investigating the thefts as a hate crime yet, as the investigation hadn't progressed to that point.
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Assistant Pastor Judy Proctor called the flag "a symbol of who were are," and that the First Church had put another flag up on Monday, and had ordered even more flags.
Kristin Noon, the Executive Director of the Wenham Museum, said a member of the Museum had donated two more flags.
"This doesn't really reflect the values of Wenham or our organization," Noon said. "We would so much rather have a conversation, and we're saddened," she said.
Noon said the museum would be looking at its video surveillance and would keep putting up flags.
WBZ's Shari Small (@ShariSmallNews) reports:
Written by Chaiel Schaffel