American flag stolen from Ponte Vedra Beach neighborhood entrance

A Ponte Vedra Beach neighborhood is looking for the person who stole a 4’-by-6’ American flag from the entrance to their community.

“My husband said, ‘Where’s the flag?’ And I looked up and it was just not there. It was gone,” said Deb Hardman, Summerfield Homeowners Association president. “They not only took the flag, but in order to do that, they ripped out all of our landscape lighting so they could be doing it in the dark.”

She called the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.

The deputy wrote in his report that he saw “the bare flag pole which once proudly waived [sic] the flag of these 50 States United.”

His report includes a proposed charge for misdemeanor flag desecration, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled flag desecration is protected as free speech by the First Amendment.

The Florida state statute is still on the books.

“The initial flag-desecration statute in Florida dates back to 1917. So many times what will happen is there will be a statute that is on the books that has lost a lot of its teeth, so to speak, and may not necessarily be enforceable, but it does not necessarily drop off in terms of the statute,” said attorney Chris Carson.

So an officer can propose charging someone with it, but the state attorney’s office would likely change it to a different charge later.

With no leads on any suspects still out there, Hardman said she’s hesitant to put up a new flag.

“I feel that it has been a great violation to us, to come in and destroy something that is really representative of our neighborhood and who we are,” Hardman said.

If a suspect is found, he or she could also face charges of criminal mischief and larceny.

Cox Media Group