70 Confederate Flags Stolen From Georgia Cemetery

A Confederate flag graces a soldiers grave stone in Cemetary One at the Confederate Memorial Park in Mountain Creek, Ala., Tuesday, July 19, 2011. More than 60,000 Confederate veterans came home to Alabama after the ... A Confederate flag graces a soldiers grave stone in Cemetary One at the Confederate Memorial Park in Mountain Creek, Ala., Tuesday, July 19, 2011. More than 60,000 Confederate veterans came home to Alabama after the Civil War, and residents are still paying a tax that supported them 150 years after the fighting began. The tax now pays for the park, which is located on the same 102-acre tract where elderly veterans used to stroll. The tax once brought in millions for Confederate pensions, but lawmakers sliced up the levy and sent money elsewhere as the men and their wives died. No one has seriously challenged the continued use of the money for a memorial to the “Lost Cause,” although a long-serving black legislator wants to eliminate state funding for the park. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Police near Georgia’s coast are investigating the thefts of 70 Confederate flags from the graves of soldiers who fought in the American Civil War.

The Jacksonville Times-Union reports that the stolen flags were small replicas of the third official flag of the Confederate States of America, which includes a red bar and the familiar battle emblem in the corner (http://bit.ly/2bCwOKb ).

James Carter said his local Sons of Confederate Veterans group placed the flags in Oak Grove cemetery in April for Confederate Memorial Day, an official holiday in Georgia and other southern states. The flags were reported missing on August 18.

Carter says Confederate soldiers were called to serve, “just like Union soldiers answered the calls of their states.”

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Latest News
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: