Ohio Family Says Rainbow Flag Stolen From Porch, Burned

The Fitzpatric family of Wyoming, Ohio, says that an intruder recently came onto the porch of their family home to steal and burn an LGBTQ+ Pride flag.

"It's a real sense of violation to have somebody come onto your property," Michele Fitzpatric told local news Fox19 Now about the event that happened Thursday. "It's an act of violence, it's a threat."

The Fitzpatrics had put up the flag back in June after deciding as a family that they wanted to make a statement supporting LGBTQ+ people in their area. "It's a way to show support of very marginalized people in our community," Michele said.

Maggie Fitzpatric, the family's daughter, said she wanted the flag up because she sees a lot of antigay and anti-trans bullying at her school. After their flag was stolen and burned, Maggie says she had friends reach out to tell her how shocked they were.

"They were speechless," she told Fox19," they never thought that this type of thing would have happened, especially in Wyoming, as it's a very, well, I thought it was a very accepting community."

There are no current suspects, but the family says they've already ordered a new flag to replace the stolen one, and this one's bigger. Several of their neighbors have ordered flags to show solidarity.

Wyoming, Ohio is a suburb of Cincinnati, with a little under 10,000 people as of the last census.