Rainbow Flag Repeatedly Stolen From Reston Church

RESTON, VA -- June may be LGBT Pride Month, but at least one person is trying to put a damper on the celebration in Reston.

The Unitarian Universalist Church says that the rainbow flag that they display outside the church on the top of a hill on Wiehle Avenue has been stolen for the third time in three months.

A vandal or vandals took the flag on the evening of June 11, one week after the church co-sponsored Reston Pride, the church said in a statement.

"The missing eleven-foot-tall flag was reported to the Fairfax County police who are using sophisticated techniques to examine who might have torn town the flagpole and removed the flag," the statement reads. "The flag is the only freestanding rainbow flag in Reston, Virginia that flies year-round. It has been in place since 2017 without incident until this spring."

Rev. Dr. Debra W. Haffner, minister at UUCR, said the flag is displayed on church property to "support and celebrate sexual and gender diversity and that all are welcome at our church."

“We are deeply saddened that some person or persons have chosen to steal our flag and hope that it will be returned to us. More, we hope for an opportunity to create an opportunity for restorative justice with that person or persons so that they will come to understand and accept all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression,” said Haffner.

Haffner, who has been UUCR's minister since 2016, created the first ever Reston Pride event at the church in 2018, and it brought in nearly 5,000 people for a celebration on June 1 at Lake Anne Plaza.