April 18, 2001
(UNIONTOWN, Md.) – Investigators say that three high school students who stole American flags off home flagpoles made the mistake of leaving the flags in a car in the school parking lot, where one of the owners spotted them.
The boys, aged 15, 16 and 17, attend Francis Scott Key High School, named after the Marylander who wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner.” They are charged with theft and destruction of property.
State troopers involved in the investigation say that they took the theft seriously because of the symbolic value of the stolen property.