ARLINGTON, Va. — An Arlington County couple says they've received an outpouring of support after thieves stole their pride flag five times in five months.
WUSA9 first spoke with Jenna Burnett and Michelle Logan in December, after the third time it was stolen.
The first time it happened was on September 16.
"We looked at the Ring camera and it was just like a male and his two friends and he was wearing a cowboy hat and we were like huh that's interesting so we put up another pride flag," the two explained.
On September 30, in the middle of the night, it happened again.
"We were like okay. We were like kind of angry. Our friend made us another flag with our pride flag that said 'Have you seen this anti-LGBTQ+ cowboy' and we thought it was hilarious so we put it up," said Logan and Burnett.
Then, on December 16, the "cowboy" struck again.
"The entire pole was just like snapped off. Like bent in half. We were like okay we can do something about this," said Logan.
They posted it on social media and spoke to WUSA9 about what happened. The support began pouring in. They told WUSA9 people donated new flags to them, and they decided to turn the situation into something positive.
They have encouraged people to donate to The Trevor Project and Kindness Activist.
On January 21, they were shocked to find their flag missing, once again.
"Michelle's parents were over and her Mom was like 'Where's the flag' and we were like 'Oh no! Not again are you serious,'" said Burnett.
"We were just caught off guard because I mean it's been a while," added Logan.
A week later, on January 27, it happened again. They looked at their cameras, and saw the culprit, sans cowboy hats, ripping down their flags again.
"It's more than just a flag, it's representing a bigger deal. It's people who really don't understand and don't tolerate. Whether it's a hate crime or wanting to show your friends how funny it is, it's not funny. It's violating. It's disturbing. Just leave us alone," said Logan.
In the midst of all of this, they told WUSA9 they've seen an outpouring of support from their neighbors. On Wednesday night we saw several homes in their Penrose neighborhood proudly flying pride flags.
"With my entire heart I want to thank them for being so supportive We truly did not expect to wake up in the morning the other day and see all of the flags flying across the street," said Logan.
They also saw that someone posted a flyer, calling their street the "rainbow flag street".
"It was a poster that was like 'What if we kissed on the rainbow flag street' and that's what I'm calling the street now. Just Rainbow Road. I love it," said Logan.
"It's just a huge relief to know that we're surrounded by people who like are gonna be supportive of us," said Burnett.
If you'd like to donate in support of them, they're asking people to donate to The Trevor Project and Kindness Activist.
Do you have a news tip on this story or any other story? We want to hear from you. Tell us about it by emailing newstips@wusa9.com.
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