World War II-era flag stolen from home

A Vancouver woman is disappointed and heartsick after an American flag was stolen from her Hough neighborhood home earlier in the month, she said.

Marguerite Houghton hung the flag, which her father brought home after serving in the Navy in World War II, in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. She noticed the flag was missing from the front of her home on the morning of Sept. 17. The theft was particularly hard on her because of the flag’s sentimental value, she said.

“That was sort of like a part of him,” she said Thursday. “It just struck a note when somebody stole it.”

It was the second time she removed the flag from a “tucked away” place in her home, she said.

She flew the flag on Sept. 11, 2001, because she thought her father would be proud if his flag was used to honor those that lost their lives in the terror attacks. Ten years later, she decided to hang the flag again to commemorate the event.

She’s not sure how the flag, which was nailed above her porch, was stolen: The nails are still up there, but the flag is gone, she said.

“It was so wrong for somebody to do this, and I couldn’t let it go,” Houghton said.

She would love to get the flag back, but isn’t planning on seeing it again, she said.

She filed a report with the Vancouver Police Department.