HINGHAM, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Two 18-year-old men from Hingham are facing charges, after videos on social media allegedly showed them stealing and defacing a blue line flag from a home, and tearing a thin blue line sticker off a car.
According to Hingham Police Department, they received an anonymous tip about a flag pole and thin blue line flag that may have been stolen by two men on Saturday August 15.
The tip also included two videos from social media, showing the thin blue line flag, which signals support for law enforcement, and the flagpole being smashed into the ground and repeatedly placed in a pool.
HPD said another video showed one of the men tearing off a blue line sticker from the back window of a car parked at the Derby Street Shoppes. The owner of the car was found and contacted, and police said they were upset that the sticker had been torn off.
The same day police received the anonymous tip and videos, a Hingham resident reported her blue line flag and pole had been stolen overnight from her home. HPD said a neighbor had sent the resident the same video posted online of the men, who "stole and damaged her flag and laughing about it."
Officers were able to identify the two men in the videos and interviewed them. While they were not arrested, they were both ordered to appear at Hingham District Court at a future date to face charges of larceny and defacing property.
HPD said their names are not being released because they were not arrested.
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(Photo: Getty Images)