Flag thefts anger eastern Iowa vets

Authorities in the eastern Iowa town of Riverside, south of Iowa City, say 23 American flags were discovered stolen from area cemeteries yesterday. V-F-W member Gene Kallaus says the flags were special because each one had covered the casket of a veteran at his funeral. He says it’s unfortunate that someone thinks stealing the flags is funny.Kallaus says some of the flags date back to World War Two. He says it may cost 17-hundred dollars to replace all of the flags. He says they won’t be the same flags that were on the caskets of the veterans.V-F-W member Bill Rath discovered the flags missing early yesterday morning, the morning of Memorial Day. He says some flagpoles were bent over, some were thrown on the ground. Rath says “it really hurts”The V-F-W Post says it won’t press criminal charges if the flags are promptly returned.