WINOOSKI, Vt. -
Dan Lachartie and his wife Betty worked on their garden behind their Winooski, Vermont home Wednesday.
While they looked happy then, that wasn't the case a few hours earlier when Lachartie noticed his American and Canadian flags were missing.
"I assumed it broke down," said Lachartie.
After all Lachartie says it was nearly a decade old.
But then he realized his niece's flag across the street was also missing.
"They didn't throw it out anywhere around the neighborhood because we looked," said Lachartie.
Lachartie called the police.
Winooski Police Chief Steve McQueen says whoever stole the flags wouldn't have been able to do so easily.
"We're definitely interested in any information if someone should have seen someone carrying a flagpole with flags on it last night we'd like to know," said McQueen.
The flag is several feel in the air and there's no rope to pull it down but police say the people who took it didn't have to climb up the pole.
That's because when you press a button the whole thing collapses.
Lachartie plans to raise new flags soon.
But this time he's not going to make it easy for anyone to walk off with them.
"We'll have to bolt them down I guess," said Lachartie.
An effort that Lachartie hopes that won't allow someone to put a damper on his American spirit.
If you have any information or have had your flag stolen you can call police at 802-655-0221.
