Magdalena Garcia says she believes that all people are God's beloved children.
Garcia, a resident of Chicago's North Mayfair neighborhood, has proudly displayed a Pride flag in front of her home. In recent weeks, it has disappeared.
She told NBC Chicago that she believes someone took it out of hate.
“It feels like a violation because this is private property,” said Garcia.
Garcia displayed the Pride flag to show solidarity and allegiance to the LGBTQ+ community at the beginning of the month. Then, last week, the flag was vandalized.
“The pole had been knocked out of place, had been bent and the flag was thrown on the ground. So we didn’t like that," Garcia said.
She had it fixed last week, but then she woke up Monday morning to another surprise.
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“I look out the window. The flag is completely gone,” Garcia said.
She and other neighbors NBC Chicago spoke with can’t imagine why someone would destroy someone else’s property, let alone a Pride flag in June - LGBTQ Pride Month.
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“Go buy one if you want one!" said neighbor Ellen Clark. "I think it’s foolish! What if you get caught? You’re gonna go to jail for a flag?”
“It is an attack on the flag and on the people that the flag represents, which is sad," said Garcia.
Garcia has not reported the incident to police, nor has she found out if any neighbors' doorbell cameras caught the incident on camera. Garcia and her husband have already ordered a replacement flag.
They’ve also ordered Pride flags for every home on the block in hopes their neighbors would display one in their yards.
