‘Just want it to stop’: Resident speaks after recurring pride flag theft in Eagle Mountain, officials seek info

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Hailey Randall has put up LGBTQ+ pride flags at her Eagle Mountain home for years — but over the past year, the flags at her home have been stolen or vandalized on several occasions.

“We just want it to stop,” Randall said. “We just want everybody to feel safe and loved.”

On Monday, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office shared security footage of the most recent incident, which happened on the night of March 24. The UCSO said pride flags had been stolen from the home “over the past year, and again the past few nights,” and is seeking information about the thefts.

“The suspects appear to be juveniles and were seen leaving the area on a yellow electric bikes and mountain bikes,” the sheriff’s office said in the video.

The footage shared by the sheriff’s office shows three suspects, with two of the individuals grabbing onto and hanging from a rainbow flag until it detached from the home. A third person is seen pulling a transgender flag out of the grass in the yard.

Randall said the incidents first started last summer, when a pride flag on her property was taken down, ripped up, and thrown back onto the yard. Another incident happened around Halloween last year, when a flag at the home was torn down again.

“The first time, it was really hurtful… almost kind of shocking,” Randall said. “We hear that this stuff happens, but to actually have it happen to us was… kind of a gut punch.”

Randall said as the incidents have continued, it’s been “frustrating,” and that they keep replacing the flags to “have that representation out there that we believe that everybody should feel safe for whoever they are.”

Randall said similar pride flag vandalism has occurred within the neighborhood and believes the suspects may be local to the area.

“Just please stop,” Randall said. “Even if you don’t like what they stand for, or agree with it … it’s something that’s important to us, and it’s not good to come onto people’s properties and take things. Just let it be.”

The sheriff’s office has asked anyone with information about the thefts to call Central Dispatch at 801-798-5600.

Lucas Millhouse contributed to this report.