American flag hanging on Turlock home's door is burned

In a neighborhood where other American flags were untouched, residents of a home in the northern part of the city went outside Thursday morning to find that the decorative Betsy Ross-type flag hanging on their front door had been burned.

The so-called Betsy Ross flag has a circle of stars representing the original 13 colonies, rather than the current style of flag that has a field of 50 stars.

The destruction of property occurred on the 2400 block of Terralinda Drive, just east of the Turlock Regional Sports Complex.

Sgt. Russ Holeman, spokesman for the Turlock Police Department, said officers noticed that modern U.S. flags on display at other homes in the neighborhood were not harmed. Turlock is in the midst of a “1,000 flag challenge”, in which the city is asking residents and businesses to fly the American flag between Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

Police have not received reports of flag burnings in other areas of the city, Holeman said.

The residents told police they have no known enemies and do not know why they were targeted. Police have checked the area for video surveillance cameras in hopes of identifying the vandals, Holeman said.

Anyone with information on the case may call the Police Department at 209-668-5550.

This story was originally published September 29, 2017 at 7:56 AM with the headline "American flag hanging on Turlock home's door is burned."