Upside-down U.S. flag stolen

SPOKANE, Wash., Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A Washington state man who began flying his U.S. flag upside-down as a protest two weeks ago said the flag has been stolen from his yard.

Greg Carman of Spokane said he placed his flag upside-down on the pole in his front yard as a sign of "distress," KREM-TV, Spokane, reported Monday.

"I had been flying the flag upside-down in protest of a lot of the political things, not just the presidential race. Many things have happened, and I have the right to do that under the First Amendment," Carman said.

He said there was a knock on his door Saturday night, and when he opened the door the flag was gone and a note was left in its place.

"I hate to say it, but nobody came and knocked there to find out why we were distressed," he said. "I think a better statement for them would've been to put it right back up and re-flown it correctly. That would've been a better statement on their part, instead of being thieves."

Carman said he will buy a new flag and fly it upside-down until the first of the year.