Gay Pride Flag
Desecrated in Pennsylvania

Police in Bucks County, Pa., are investigating the vandalism of a gay pride flag as a possible hate crime. The rainbow-colored flag was stolen from the front porch of a lesbian couple's home on Friday evening in Ferndale, about 35 miles northwest of the popular gay travel destination New Hope.

When the flag was returned to partners Mary Shaffer and Shelly Sickbert a few days later, they reported it was balled up in the front yard with a giant X painted on it from corner to corner. The flag also was slashed and covered with tire marks, and it reeked of urine.

Shaffer, who has lived at the location for 10 years, responded with defiance toward the perpetrator, whom she hypothetically described as male.

"I wish he had the cojones to come back when it was light outside and talk with me," she told WPVI TV . "If he thinks this is going to make us go away, I'm buying these things in bulk now, and every time one disappears, five new ones are going up, because I'm sick of this."