That morning, a caller notified the Monroe Police of a backpack found behind a business in the 800 block of North Telegraph Rd. Along with the backpack, there were several American flags, a Korean War flag, and a POW flag. At that point, City of Monroe maintenance employees also contacted Monroe Police to report flags missing from Veterans Park.

Officers collected and returned the flags and found items of identification in the backpack. While still at the park, officers located the man and spoke with him. He admitted to stealing the flags, after which he was arrested and taken to the Monroe County Jail.

— Connor Veenstra can be reached at cveenstra@gannett.com.