Vandals Replace Pride Flag with Confederate Ones at Virginia Tech

A rainbow Pride flag was stolen again from Virginia Tech's Wesley Center, a religious center for students. And this weekend, the thieves replaced the flag with two Confederate ones.

In a Facebook post showing blurred-out images of the Confederate flags, the center wrote, "As always, we strive to make Wesley a safe and affirming place for all people. This hate crime goes against all that we believe, and we want our LGBTQ+ community to know that we will always love, support, and embrace you with open arms."

The center added the Pride flag has been torn down before, but this time it was "replaced with hateful Confederate flags."

The Wesley Center has flown a Pride flag for years, according to NBC News. This is the third time it's been taken down or stolen.

"This one was just an escalation when the Confederate flag was put up in its place," Wesley's campus minister, Bret Gresham, told the news site.

Gresham added that students were upset by the theft.

"My No. 1 concern is the students and making sure they feel they have a safe environment to come, to live out their faith and be affirmed in who they are," he explained.

The minister, who runs the Wesley Center, discovered the theft and vandalism on Saturday then reported what happened to the local police.

The Blacksburg Police Department confirmed to NBC News it had taken a larceny report from Gresham. A spokesperson with the department said it had been assigned to a criminal investigations unit.