One of our elderly Vietnam Vets in my parish territory (up in otherwise ultra-conservative Graham County) has been subjected to multiple nightly attacks on his American Flag. In the morning he finds that it’s been damaged, turned upside down, rehoisted, but with the ropes tightly knotted so that he has to cut it down. He now stays up at night, waiting to catch the perp, who, apparently, watches the watch, and so hasn’t yet been caught.
This isn’t just a prank. This is well thought out in advance and is insisted upon; it’s ideological. There’s a difference between once-off insulting of the flag by way of emotion on the one hand, and stalking people on the other hand. And it seems to me that this is stalking. This is meant to de-spirit this particular Veteran. Stalking is a crime. This perp needs to be put in prison.
ARISE! LET US BE GOING! 
Isn’t it flag etiquette to take the flag down at dark unless there is a light shining on it?
What a creep this person is to mess with this veteran’s flag.
@Donna – Not necessarily. Yes.
Turning the flag upside down is often a form of political protest–most recently, it’s been adopted as a way of protesting the Trump presidency–so my guess is that the perpetrator knows this veteran personally and disagrees with his politics. I hope he/she is caught red-handed.
@Mary – good point.
😦 Awful. I will pray.
I think Mary E’s suggestion is insightful. My dad is a Purple Heart Vietnam vet who flies the American flag outside his home too. I can think how hurt and baffled he would be if someone did such a terrible thing.
Prayers to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots.
This disrespect for our Veterans is not hing new and goes back a long way. It brings back bad memories for me. My husband served in Viet Nam 1967-68. He was there for the Tet Offensive. I was home pregnant with our first son and praying and hoping he would come home to us safe and sound. The major network news shows would roll the names of those killed across the TV screen every night – some days there were so many casualties you couldn’t read the names because they rolled by so quickly. It was very upsetting to glimpse something that might have been your soldier’s name. If you had a loved one ‘over there,’ seeing a Casualty Notification Officer in class A uniform would make your heart stop.
We were luckier than many because he csme home and except for lost of hearing he was ok. When he returned to the USA, hippies and fake hari krishnas at the airport spat on him and chanted ‘baby killer, baby killer.’ I find this disrespectful behavior infuriating. These people had the nerve to disrespect those who served. And they’re still at it. How disgraceful.
Furthermore,
The upside down U.S. flag is an official signal of distress. It is not meant to be, and is not officially recognized as any type of disrespect when so displayed for the right reasons. To the contrary, here is the relevant part of the US Code of Laws regarding how to fly the flag when in distress:
(a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
This unpatriotic, gutless vandal probably thinks he is funny and announcing the ‘distress’ he fells the country faces. I hope he is caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Sorry to go on so – but this one hit a nerve.