Squirrels steal Texas veteran's flags to build patriotic nest

June 4 (UPI) -- A Texas veteran's heartbreak at having several U.S. flags stolen from his front yard turned to laughter when he discovered the culprit -- squirrels.

Jennifer Northam said her father, an Air Force veteran, was upset to discover several small U.S. flags had been stolen from the memorial in his San Antonio front yard.

"It wasn't like they had just fallen off," Northam told KABB-TV. "Both of us were kind of heartbroken. We were just confused because we're new to the neighborhood. We didn't know if somebody did it or what happened."

Northam said his attitude changed when neighbor Devin Rivera-Duque showed them video she captured of the furry thieves.

The video, which Rivera-Duque posted to YouTube, shows two squirrels taking one of the small flags off its wooden stick and carrying it away.

"I saw her with the first flag," Rivera-Duque said. "I was just freaked out. The second and third flag, I just started recording her."

"I was just like, 'Oh my god,'" said Rivera-Duque. "These animals have a mind of their own. Like, you never would guess that they would do something like that."

Northam said her father laughed when he saw the video.

"How crazy that it was actually a squirrel that took it," Northam said. "And they made a nest out of them."

Rivera-Duque said the squirrels used the 10 stolen flags to build a nest in a nearby tree.

"It was like relief came over both of us," Northam said. "Because we finally understood that it wasn't someone. It was something. I mean, how amazing that they use their resources like that. They find something new, figured it would work and used it."