After being stolen from a Reno city hall during riots, an American flag from World War II was returned with a handwritten message, the New York Times reported Thursday.
Following a weekend of rioting, which included burning buildings and smashing windows, an anonymous person returned a World War II Navy Ship flag with a note attached that read: “Needed protecting. Looters were flag burning. RIP George Floyd,” according to the New York Times.
The flag was stolen from a display box on the first floor of City Hall, and officials thought it might’ve been one of the flags burned Saturday. But the flag resurfaced in a package sent to a local television reporter who had written about the missing flag.
American troops of the 4th Infantery Division (“Famous Fourth”) land on Utah Beach 06 June 1944 while Allied forces storm the Normandy beaches on D-Day. (STF/AFP via Getty Images)
Kenzie Margiott, received the flag at the television station she works at, immediately informing Reno’s vice mayor Devon Reese. (RELATED: 20-Year-Old Accused Of Inciting Riots During Pittsburg Protests Works At Amazon, Police Reports Say)
I am speechless.
A box with my name written in Sharpie was anonymously delivered to the station this afternoon. Inside, the flag from the U.S.S. Reno that went missing from city hall during Saturday’s riots. I’m so thankful.
My story: https://t.co/fPs0LtGuF1 pic.twitter.com/ZclpLU4diO
— Kenzie Margiott (@kenzie_bales) June 2, 2020
“As a country and a community, we’ve been having a rough couple of days,” Reese said, tearing up, according to the New York Times. “The idea that someone returned the flag just gave me a little more faith in humanity.”
Reese said that while earlier that day there had been peaceful protests following George Floyd’s death of roughly 2,500 people, around 200 people were left by the early evening Saturday, and people began forcing their way into City Hall, starting fires and destroying items in the building.
The flag was from the U.S.S. Reno, a battleship used during World War II that supported carriers that sent air attacks against enemy forces on islands outside Japan. It also protected a fleet against an aerial attack at Iwo Jima, according to the Reno Gazette Journal.
“If you exhale about the last several days and what the national news looks like, and you can say, ‘OK, we can get through this, too,’” Reese said according to the New York Times. “This is just a little symbol of that.”