Police are searching for a thief who was caught on surveillance video stealing a man’s Irish flag decorated with his family’s crest at a home in Aston Township over the weekend.
Police say the theft occurred at a house on the 600 block of Convent Road overnight between Saturday and Sunday. A home security camera captured the man, who was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, trying to pull out the flag pole.
“At first he tries to unscrew it and I guess he was unscrewing the wrong one,” said the flag’s owner Mark Dougherty.
The video shows the thief then twist the pole until it snaps. He then runs off down the street.
Dougherty and his father Paul Dougherty told NBC10 the flag bears their family crest, dating back decades.
“I was a little bit upset because of what it was,” Paul said. “It had a lot of meaning to us as a family.”
Paul said the flag meant a lot to his father and Mark’s grandfather.
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“He flew that flag out here for years,” Paul said. “Any kind of Holiday he always had that flag out. When he was buried this year we folded it up and had that on the casket.”
Aston Police are currently analyzing the surveillance video. Mark insists he doesn’t care about charges however and just wants the flag back.
“We just want it back,” he said. “We’re not looking to press charges or go any further with that if we can get it back in one piece.”
If you have any information on the theft, please call the Aston Township Police Department at 610-497-2633.