I am sorry to hear that I hope you have them on video. These people do not think rationally, they are emotional midgets and have been carried away to the point of attacking Americans. Very sad.

People with such thin skin need to grow up.
Learn to laugh, smile, enjoy life, agree to disagree NOT limit what they wish to display or not display, this is America.

Happen to my neighbor a month ago
 

I think it could be a outside people . My friends Flagpole damages took a lot of physical ability to accomplished the crime . Time to have stricter entry - probably need for the Villages to somehow go private with internal roadways. Probably not due to the expense.

It's an election year and all this garbage starts again. What happened to respect for each other's views? The 2016 election was the worst I have ever seen and the scariest. Whoever did this was probably thinking what a great American he/she was to disrespect Trump. If we can't have free speech in this country without the fear of retaliation, where will it all end?

Terrible
 

Sorry to hear that some moron would stoop to this level.

It is called freedom of speech.

I am so sorry that this has happened to anyone. I also feel really sorry for someone who is so miserable that their daily deeds seem to be to try to make everyone else miserable. If this person lives in our beautiful Villages, then doubly sorry.

Totally agree AND thank you for your service. It bothers me that people can’t just support their choice for president and let others have theirs. Why does a person have to say a candidate is a liar or be demeaning

I respect you for your service, but why demean another.

Freedom of speech is not destruction of property

Sorry for having to live next to moron.
 

Some people are just brain dead, others are taught.

The trolls were bad enough now this Crap. Disrespect personal property is really pushing the package. Sure hope this is not a sign of things to come. I to am a VET and this really ticks me off. Hope this person is caught!

I can't believe some people think like you do.

My friend in S Florida says this is occurring in her neighborhood but only Trump flags disappear. She previously had signs go missing and buys them in threes now and installed cameras. The trouble with going beyond polite speaking out is now sometimes rabid activism. Is that how we want to live and treat our neighbors? Install cameras. Thanks for posting.

You think that it was the U.S. flag they were after?

Such a shame people hate the flag so much.

Does anyone in your area have cameras. Maybe they caught it and you can have the person prosecuted for trespassing and destruction of private property as they deserve!

This goes to prove it is not the flag... but often the imagination or interpretation not of the person who hangs a flag but the one passing by adding their own thoughts to it.

report to PD....hate crime

It's disrespectful to the flag and to you as well ... sorry. Feels bad.

We have two parallel Americas today ... and I think we should all refrain from deliberately annoying the "others". Maybe we should put out our Patriotic symbols only ... and eliminate the political symbols that can annoy our neighbors.

I totally agree that what was done was cowardly and wrong. What I wonder, is it then OK to use this flagpole as a political campaign advertisement? Think about it. Is not that what Trump 2020 is. Forget billboards and signs and just get a flag?

Opinions on flags and stickers
 

Well said, Orange Blossom Baby.

I also am not a Trump fan at all however, what happened to your property is not right. You have a right to support whoever you want because this is America. You also have the right to your property and that must be respected. Please report this incident to the police and have them investigate.

I am sorry that someone pulled down your flag. And thank you for your service to our country but I am surprised that no one has mentioned that we are not allowed to put up political signs around our houses, no matter who it is. Move on beyond the "disrespect" and "trespassing" and don't put your own imagination into it; i.e. "they hate the flag" (add your own word here). Just because the Trump flag is under the American flag and he is a USA president doesn't mean that it's not a political sign. We've been wondering when The Villages would make people remove the flags.

Sorry to hear about your flag destruction. No one should do that to another persons property.

Here are two flag etiquette that not everyone knows ....
1. According to the Flag Code, it is never acceptable to fly a company flag, corporate banners or other form of branding/advertising on the same pole as the US Flag; you will need to have a separate flagpole to display both flags at one time.

2. For Memorial Day According to the US Flag Code:
Flags are at half staff until noon only, at which point they are raised to full staff.
The half-staff position remembers the men and women who gave their lives in service of their country.
At noon their memory is raised by the living, who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise up in their stead and continue the fight for liberty and justice for all.

God Bless America!

People are sick!! Thank you for your service!!

Sad.
 

You were responding to OBB, I believe. Sadly, I can understand and imagine people thinking all types of things. That is why there are so many different points of view and so many ideologies. There will be lots of different posts on this thread and I expect opinions to run from one extreme to the other.
From one veteran to another, a most sincere THANK YOU for your service. Take heart knowing that there are many of us who are outraged at this terrible act of vandalism. To those who would hijack this thread to turn it into a discussion or debate on what they think is appropriate to fly with the American Flag, might I suggest starting another to address that subject. This is about a neighbor and veteran who has suffered trespass and vandalism and, regardless of whether I or anyone thinks of his political preference, deserves a little compassion on this day set aside to remember those who served and, especially, those who paid the ultimate price for our Freedom.

Why?
 

Can anyone explain the irrational behavior some have towards others opinions? In particular I'm talking about our support for one political party or another.

You know what I'm talkin about the violence and hate speech toward Trump or Pelosi and Schiff that is shown by violence and Petty destruction of property.

Would any of you stand up in church and loudly declare someone's religion is not correct in the right way.

would you in today's age complain that a person of a different color or race is being served the water in a restaurant or that you're coming in even. Truly this is a case what would Jesus do.

Please stop viewing those videos that incite you and reading those news outlets that are just saying bad things every single day about the other .

it's simply not a case a black and white both sides do the best they want to there are demagogues everywhere but you have to actually use your brain and realize and no one is trying to hurt you and go against you simply just remember to vote this year for whoever you want

Especially on this day of all days remembering those who gave the ultimate for their country you don't have a right to be violent but you do have a right to vote

Did not know that info. Thanx for posting it. I like learning new things. And to all those irritated by support shown to a challenger of your candidate, keep your hands to yourself. Shoulda learned that in kindiegarden. Shame

This goes beyond the pale. He is obviously a Trump hater. He darn sure never served this nation. Do you have any way of finding out who it is? Like a Ring doorbell pointing at the flag? If we could find out who did it, I would take great joy in having just five minutes with him alone to teach him that this kind of hate has real consequences. Some people can only learn after a few bruises, a busted lip and a black eye. I would make him take the first swing, tape it then easily be able to defend myself. These idiots understand nothing else. Just remember my friend, there are a lot more of us than there are them. Thank you for serving our country! May God bless you on this special day of remembrance for those who never returned.

I read that editorial yesterday, the original one, and that is NOT what it said. The editorial pointed out that a number of military bases opened in the South during World War I were named after Confederate generals who earlier served in the U.S. Army as a salve to Southerners who were upset that African-Americans would be on those bases training. The Army also deliberately choose Southerners with a record of favoring discrimination to train the African-American troops. That was a different time, and we wouldn’t do that now. At least, that’s what Colin Powell says. One of these bases was named after a Confederate general who was at one point after the Civil War the national head of the Klan. That’s not right.

Well, that was a different time, as I’ve said. What I found convincing about the editorial was this: every one of those Confederate generals honored with his name on a military base swore an oath of allegiance to the United States of America, but turned traitor against his country and took up arms against it. I know people who have never forgiven Jane Fonda for visiting Hanoi during the Vietnam war. How can a true American forgive these traitorous generals?

And let me qualify this by saying that not only was I born in Virginia, but Robert E. Lee is a blood relative of mine. In many ways he was a deeply honorable man, but he made a huge mistake by fighting for a state to which he had taken no oath of allegiance against the government he’d sworn to protect. I had ancestors who fought for the confederacy and for the Union, and some of them died. They enlisted, and they hadn’t taken the oath taken at West Point or Annapolis, so that’s different, maybe. When I was in grade school in California I enjoyed reading biographies of Lee, Pickett, Bedford Forrest, Beauregard, and more. But is it appropriate to honor people who took up arms against our country?

(I should add that while I think hanging a Trump flag goes against The Villages’ protocol on flags and showed a lack of sensitivity, I am even more against people doing damage to the property of others. You are right to be incensed about that. Having our properties treated with respect is part of why we live in The Villages, right? And we shouldn’t do to others what we would not want done to us.)

Education is the key to understanding
 

It's important to educate yourself. And to the veterans ... thank you for your service!

A couple of weeks ago my neighbor had his Trump flag completely ripped down. These id also reportedly a troll in Buttonwood who looks for Trump flags and the reports you for landscaping violations!

Wow, you justified the vandalism. Fortunately, the OP served to defend your 1st amendment right to free speech, something you don't believe others have.

At a time when we pause to honor all those who gave their lives that we can live with the freedoms we enjoy I can find no greater disrespect then for someone to desecrate our flag and liberties.
Install your camera, fly your flags, this person is ignorant and will return because they are ignorant, they try to intimidate and bully through force to get their way. But this person is the worst of bully’s because they come in the night and sneak like a rat. They have no honor and give no respect. I would gladly stand by your side to defend our rights provided by our forefathers.[

Political speech is protected speech and his Trump flag was flying below the American flag.

His first sentence. "I have an American flag with a Trump flag under it in the center of my flower garden."

It was so wrong that this happened to you, and that you have to incur the cost of a new flagpole.
There are a thousand American flags being proudly displayed today that were NOT vandalized. So an American flag on a flagpole seems safe, and I would replace it.
I would display my Trump flag inside my window, also keeping it safe.
Thank you for your service, and God Bless America on this day honoring Patriots.

I’m no Trumper but I am sorry that happened to you.

I also feel it's a campaign advertisement. But if you have an approved pole apparently you can wave a HOUSE FOR SALE sign under your American flag if you wanted to. Is that right? Not in my opinion but it's allowed here.