U.S. flag from Iraq stolen from church

AURORA, Ill., June 21 (UPI) -- A U.S. flag that once flew at a Pentagon base in Iraq has been stolen from the suburban Chicago church it was given to in December.

Aurora, Ill., police are looking for thieves who broke down a wooden flagpole outside Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church between noon and 4 p.m. Saturday, and took the flag.

The flag was a gift to church school teacher Sister Joan Korte from her nephew, Michael Sheridan, who was a civilian employee in Iraq from January to October 2005, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

The 3-foot by 5-foot, hand-sewn flag was special to Korte because she and her fellow nuns often prayed for Sheridan during his deployment.

It was only on the church flagpole for three days before it was stolen.