Lincoln home’s pride flags vandalized twice in one week

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Pride flags in an east Lincoln neighborhood have been vandalized multiple times this summer.

One homeowner who wanted to remain anonymous said his flags were defaced twice this week.

On Wednesday, he captured surveillance video of a person spray-painting pride flags in his front yard. He then joins someone else in the street before running away.

He said back in June, his flags went missing, but he assumed they blew away, so he didn’t report it.

Now, he’s considering it something more serious.

“Let’s call it what it is — a hate crime, coming after households that are showing the pride and progress flags,” the homeowner said.

He said the same two people have vandalized other pride flags in the neighborhood.

There were eight vandalisms in a 2-mile radius around the home during the past week, according to the Lincoln Police Department.

An LPD spokeswoman said both vandalisms at the house “have been designated as having a hate bias toward LGBT.”

The homeowner said police were patrolling the neighborhood Thursday evening.

“It’s been very scary for our five children because they don’t feel as safe as they should,” he said. “When this has been happening, we do put out another flag because we’re not going to let ourselves be terrorized and change our stance on important issues like this.”

The family said they will continue to show their support for the LGBTQ community.

“It’s sad that their bigotry is so strong and they feel that they can be so brazen about it to do it right in front of a camera,” the homeowner said. “But this is important because it’s part of being an ally.”