Once again vandals have struck in our community of Southampton.
At our peaceful waterfront at the foot of High Street, there flies a giant Canada Flag, weather permitting. This a flag that is only funded through donations and, perhaps, fundraising. There are no large corporate or government dollars involved, only a group of volunteers, known as Friends of the Flag, who take care of it and replace it when weather plays havoc. They take turns lowering it when a storm is brewing and the raising it again.
It has become somewhat famous on our waterfront and returning visitors and summer residents look forward to seeing it as a symbol of summer.
Each summer and Fall, visitors to the flag enjoy sitting on the benches and watching the waves or the odd fishing tug that goes by.
Also, there are two small flags made of steel mounted on short posts that are lag-bolted into the armour stone that is part of the landscaping. These flags are a ‘piggy bank’ of sorts where visitors can drop in a coin or two to show that they care about the flag. 
Well, I guess not everyone cares because someone went to the effort of removing one of the flag boxes, post and all. This is no easy task and someone had to work at it. Not only did they work at removing the flag and post, but then they had to spray paint graffiti on the giant stone. What kind of mentality does this take? Not much.
The Friends of the Flag are understandably upset but all they want is for the vandalizing thief to return the flag. Simply drop it off where it was formerly, under cloak of darkness, the way it was taken … end of story.
