Terang RSL members are fed up with lowly thieves after the Australian flag was stolen from a war memorial for the third time in two months.
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Terang RSL president Steve Bloxham said thieves cut the rope and stole the flag from its pole on High Street sometime between 5pm and 10pm Friday.
It is the third flag stolen from the memorial since Anzac Day.
“I just can’t understand the blatant disregard for something so important,” Mr Bloxham said.
“The flag flies as a mark of respect for the servicemen and women who fought for this country and for those who did and didn’t come home. It’s an insult and is just plain disrespectful.”
Mr Bloxham said the RSL branch had labelled the new flag following the theft of the first two.
“When the first flag was stolen I got a call from the guy at the post office and he told me the flag was gone and the rope was dangling,” he said.
“I thought it might have disappeared in the wind, but when it happened again I knew it was intentional.
“The flag taken on Friday had Terang RSL written across the white section of it, so it’s pretty obvious who owns it and what it’s for.”
Terang RSL secretary Pamela Bell said everyone at the branch was upset by the repetitive and brazen theft.
“We have no idea who is doing it and why,” she said.
“These individuals have taken it from the middle of the main street at a time where there could have been people around. This sort of behaviour shows a complete lack of respect for our community, our war memorial and the soldiers who served our country.”
Mr Bloxham said Corangamite Shire Council had replaced the first two flags, but Terang RSL wouldn’t be asking for a third.
“We won’t be flying the flag until we get to the bottom of this,” he said.
“We’ll need to install a security lock or an inner security lanyard on the flagpole and we are in the process of looking at various sites for our own CCTV cameras.
“We’ve got a flag at the memorial garden that has never been stolen and we think it’s because the hall has so much surveillance.
“It makes you think that it could have been a local because they obviously know which flags are surrounded by cameras.”
The theft was reported to Terang police. Anybody with information should contact Crime Stoppers.