Baltimore church says stolen LGBTQ flag was a hate crime: 'It was a deliberate act'
BALTIMORE -- Pastor Emily Scott is asking police to investigate a stolen LGBTQ pride flag as a hate crime.
She told WJZ a pride flag was stolen from outside St. Mark's Lutheran Church, on St. Paul Street, in Baltimore's Station North neighborhood.
The sign outside the church reads "You can take our flag, but LGBTQ lives remain sacred to God."
"Whenever a pride flag is removed, in the queer community, we know what that means," Scott said.
Officers responded around 11:45 a.m. Wednesday to reports of the stolen pride flag.
"I guess my question is, why?," asked church congregation president John Lisch. "It just makes me sad. I just don't understand why people need to pick on others."
Scott, the church's head pastor, told officers that her congregation has a large population of citizens from the surrounding LGBTQ community.
She said an LGBTQ flag is displayed on the side of their church.
When she left the church Tuesday evening, she told police the flag was still on the side of the church. When she returned the next day, she saw that it was gone.
Police said that whoever took the flag had access to a ladder.
"It feels exposing," Scott said. "It feels like there is someone who is taking the time and the energy to actually make a plan to bring a ladder to take down our flag which, for us, is a sign of our dignity and our personhood."
Police said they are investigating the theft as a larceny, but members of the church believe this was a hate crime.
"Somebody had to bring their own ladder and climb up there and take it down," Lisch said. "It wasn't done on a whim. It was a deliberate act."
This is the latest reported act against LGBTQ+-affirming churches in Baltimore.
Two weeks ago, a pride flag was destroyed outside of a church in Federal Hill.
Police are investigating that incident as a hate crime. So far, no arrests have been made.
"They actually had someone climb their pride flag," Scott said. "It was a long banner. He climbed all the way up with a knife and cut it down."
Earlier this week in Odenton, police say a person on your screen stole rainbow-colored plastic hearts that were surrounding an LGBTQ+ sign outside of a church.
"It feels a little concerning that churches seem to be a target at this time, churches that are LGBTQ-affirming," Scott said.
The congregation at St. Mark's Lutheran church changed the message that is on display outside of the church to send a message to the community.
"We wanted it to be clear, right off the bat, that it wasn't gone because we took it down," Scott said. "And that message, no matter how many times the flag comes down, we're going to keep coming back and saying that we are proud of our community and we're proud of our identity. We are going to keep saying that and saying it loudly and clearly."
WJZ was told that the flag will be replaced.
A new flag has been ordered and will up before Baltimore Pride next month.
Ms. Scott, wishes to have this incident reported as a hate crime. This officer explained the policies and procedures of the Baltimore City Police Department and further advised her that this incident does not classify as a hate crime. No cameras were in the area of the incident during the time of this investigation. Ms. Scott was made aware of the case number associated with this incident, and further advised to contact police with any information or questions related to this incident.