Flag vandalized at family fun center

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - It once soared above a Northeast Heights amusement center, but Monday morning a massive American flag was found vandalized a day after it went missing.

“We figured it was like a high school or college prank,” said Jerry Gibson, manger of the Hinkle Family Fun Center.

Workers Sunday morning noticed the rope had been cut and the flag was gone, but it took until Monday for maintenance workers to find it crumpled behind the adjacent movie theater.

“We stand for patriotism,” Gibson said about the 30-by-20-foot flag.

When workers unfurled the flag in the center’s dining room there was a small anarchy symbol. No other vandalism was found around the center.

Gibson said he checked the security cameras, but they didn’t yield much.

“All we can see is three individuals running across our property with the flag,” Gibson said. “It was very had to see anything. It was the middle of the night. We do see images, and we’ll get those to APD.”

The flagpole was installed shortly after the September 11 attacks. It cost the owners nearly $30,000 to install and will cost even more to get a new flag up.

It usually costs us about $800 per flag,” Gibson said. New ropes will cost about $400 and a hoist to install the new rope and flag will cost almost $1,000.

“We’re offering a $500 reward for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of individuals,” Gibson said.