SHENANDOAH -- The owners of a bar and restaurant in Shenandoah are outraged after someone dumped an American flag in their trash can, and now they want to find out who is responsible.
Kathy and John Phillips own The Lyric in Shenandoah. They both have family members who have served in the military, and they're disgusted someone threw out an American flag on their property.
The Lyric – a bar and restaurant in Shenandoah -- is all decorated for Christmas, but there's one item that won't be coming off the walls after the holiday: an American flag.
"It's not in great shape, but it's still my country, so it's still my flag," Kathy Phillips said.
A few weeks ago, Phillips caught someone on surveillance video dumping junk in her trash cans. She didn't mind much until she saw someone shoving an American flag, still on the pole, in her garbage.
"I was so distraught over seeing this having family members in the service, my father-in-law in World War II. This is a symbol of my freedom that people are still at war fighting for."
The owners at The Lyric say whoever dumped that American flag filled the entire bin with their trash, but the whole thing was caught on camera.
The surveillance video was shared on Facebook. So far it's been seen more than 24,000 times.
Phillips hopes someone notices the man in the video and can turn him in to authorities.
Some people who live in Shenandoah are hoping for the same thing.
"That's not cool and they should just get out of country," said Eileen Pfaff.
Joe Shoup lives across the street from The Lyric. He's a Navy veteran and saw the whole thing happen.
"Who the hell is this guy, you know? And what's he doing desecrating the flag like that?"
He describes the man's truck as a dark-colored GMC pickup, but he couldn't make out a license plate.
"I hope they catch him and fine him," he said.
The Phillipses now plan to turn that video over to police.
The Shenandoah police chief says if someone illegally dumps a flag, they could be charged with insult to a national or commonwealth flag, which is a misdemeanor.
Also, if you want to know how to properly dispose of an American Flag, you can visit the VFW website.
