[MSN] More than $3K of flags, other items missing from House of Flags museum

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

More than $3K of flags, other items missing from House of Flags museum
Leah Justice
June 1, 2006

On Memorial Day weekend, when House of Flags officials would normally
concentrate on ceremonies honoring veterans,  they instead were confronted
with an apparent theft of more than $3,000 of flags and memorabilia from the
county's flag museum.
Around 2 p.m. on Saturday, House of Flags curator George Scofield went to
the Green Creek facility and found 54 flags, 13 caps and 11 coins missing,
as well as other items, according to a Polk County Sheriff's Office report.
The House of Flags, operated by VFW Post 9116, is in the Green Creek
Community Center.
Scofield called other Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) members who had keys to
check whether the items had been sold to museum visitors. He said the
missing items had not been sol and it appeared that someone broke through
the door to the museum. 
Scofield estimates that $3,203 of flags, caps and coins have disappeared
from the Green Creek facility, and he speculated that the thief may have
planned to sell them. He says he's considering ways to make the facility
more secure. 
Items missing include several 50-star American flags of varying sizes; Army,
Navy, Marine and Merchant Marine flags; Confederate Rebel battle caps; South
Carolina caps; Marine/Iwo Gima coins and 911 Memorial coins, according to
Scofield's inventory.
Scofield says brass fittings for putting up flags had also been taken.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office was alerted on Saturday and an initial
report has been completed.
The sheriff's report lists the crime as larceny from buildings.
Sheriff's office officials say there was no apparent forced entry into the
facility.
Det. Sgt. Randall Hodge started an investigation into the missing items
yesterday, but there were no suspects as of yesterday. 

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