Woodchucks steal flags from graves

NEW YORK, July 12 (UPI) -- Officials in a New York town said police cameras set up to identify flag thieves at a Civil War cemetery recorded woodchucks stealing the flags.

Hudson police said they set up surveillance cameras at the Cedar Park Cemetery to discover who was taking the U.S. flags from the graves of Civil War veterans in the days leading up to the Fourth of July holiday and they offered a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the thieves, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

However, officers reviewed the camera footage and soon discovered the flags were being carried off by woodchucks.

Hudson Mayor William Hallenbeck Jr. said he contacted the manufacturer and discovered a substance used in the flags was attractive to the furry animals.