Man spotted on camera vandalizing flags in Denton Square

The Denton County Sheriff's Office wants to find a man who tore down two American flags in Denton Square. A surveillance camera recorded the man damaging the flags in the middle of the night.

The flags were set up all around the downtown square by the Rotary Club for Patriots Day. But one man apparently didn't like it, and his actions seem to be both criminal and offensive.

It happened late Friday night into Saturday morning around 1:55 a.m. The man was walking along the sidewalk in front of the old courthouse. Video shows him yanking one American Flag off the pole, wad it up and then stuff it in a fountain at the base of the Confederate monument. He then continues on and does the same to another flag.

“The flag represents America and all of us,” said Denton County Lt. Orlando Hinojosa. “It's a crime, but it also hurts the heart, too."

Kathryn Lynass is director of Administration for the county judge's office. Her volunteers setting up for an event on the square found the wadded up flags the next morning.

"This is not one of those things that we want happening in Denton,” she said “We don't want flags stolen. We don't want graffiti. We don't want people stealing things."

The surveillance video has been shared hundreds of times on social media.

The sheriff's office and the county both don't think the Confederate memorial had anything to do with why the man did what he did. Instead of just vandalism, they'll pursue a charge of desecration of the flag, a Class A Misdemeanor that is punishable with up to a year in jail.