Rainbow flag cut down from Longwood home

Homeowner says culprit was trying to send a message

LONGWOOD, Fla. – A Longwood woman said someone cut down her rainbow flag that has been flying in front of her home for almost a year.

Ripped rainbow stripes and frayed edges are all that's left of the flag.

"It was the first thing we noticed as we pulled in the driveway. It wasn't there anymore," the homeowner said.

The homeowner didn't want News 6 using her name but said someone targeted her house in the Sweetwater Oaks subdivision Monday. She said they walked up to her home in the middle of the day and tore down her rainbow flag.

She said it's been up since last August.

"It's symbolic of our family values: Love, acceptance, openness, caring, and especially in wake of the tragedy last year downtown," she said.

The homeowner said whoever cut their flag did so deliberately. She said it's up high, hanging on hooks and could easily be pulled down.

Instead, she thinks whoever did this was trying to leave a message.

"I understand that our beliefs are not the same as everyone else's and that's OK. But that doesn't give someone the right to come on to someone else's property and destroy something else that means something to them," the homeowner said.

The homeowner said she won't let someone's hatred stop her from spreading love.

She filed a report with the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.

She also ordered a new flag and expected it to arrive in the mail on Wednesday. She said she won't let what happened deter her from hanging the rainbow flag at her home.

"Maybe it can help show people who are negative in some way that their crummy actions can't deter people who are motivated and passionate about something," she said.

The homeowner said she is checking with neighbors to see if their security cameras caught anything.

She also said about half a dozen of her neighbors are standing alongside her and pledging to put up the same flags at their homes.


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