Men Charged In Stealing, Defacing 'Thin Blue Line' Flag: Police

HINGHAM, MA —Two 18-year-old men accused of stealing a Hingham resident's "thin blue line" flag and posting a video of themselves vandalizing it in a swimming pool were charged with larceny and defacing property.

Hingham police said one of the men also tore a "thin blue line" sticker — which has come to represent a show of support for law enforcement — off a parked car and posting that video on social media.

The incident came a month after the town controversy when the Hingham firefighters union was forced to remove "thin blue line" flags from their apparatus after a resident lodged a complaint that the flags violated a town ordinance.

Police said on Aug. 15 they received an anonymous tip that a video of a flag pole and "thin blue line" flag that may have stolen had been posted to social media being smashed to the ground and dunked in a pool repeatedly.

A Hingham resident reported that day that her flag and pole had been stolen and that the resident had been sent a link to the video.

A second video showed the men tearing a "thin blue line" sticker from the back window of a car parked near the Derby Street Shoppes. Police said the owner of the car was located and they were upset about the sticker.

Police said they were able to identify the two teens in the video before charging one with one count of larceny and two counts of defacing property, including the sticker, and charging the other man with one count of larceny and one count of defacing property.

Police said the men were not arrested, but will appear in Hingham District Court to face the charges.

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