From the Associated Press, “American flags burned at cemetery, replaced with swastika flags

ORCAS ISLAND, Washington (AP) - Vandals burned dozens of small American flags that had been placed to decorate veterans’ gravesites at a cemetery on this island off Washington state’s northwest coast and replaced them with hand-drawn swastika flags, authorities said Monday.

Members of the American Legion on Orcas Island replaced the burned flags Sunday afternoon.
Woodlawn Cemetery had a caretaker monitor the gravesites overnight, but the vandals returned and repeated the stunt on Monday, which was Memorial Day in the United States, after the guard left at dawn, the San Juan County sheriff’s office said.

«This is not an act of free speech. This is a crime,» Sheriff Bill Cumming said in a statement released Monday afternoon.

Memorial Day is a holiday that celebrates U.S. soldiers who have died.

This is a disgraceful display of anti war lunacy, unable to distinguish between current politics over the war in Iraq, and respect for those who died defending our country.

There are many Americans who do not believe the burning of the American Flag should be considered a crime, arguing it is a form of free speech. This was not an issue of free speech however, this was vandalism plain and simple. I sincerely hope the Sherrif’s office finds those responsible and they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

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First Amendment, Iraq