A strip of purple fabric, the remnant of a Pride flag ripped down by thieves from the chimney of Paul Barnes’s Naperville home, has become a symbol of resilience.
The flag was placed high atop his house to keep it out of reach of crooks who stole two other Pride flags and those of his neighbors. It didn’t work.
Barnes said he’s hopeful — thanks to recent arrests made by Naperville police — that thieves won’t abscond with his latest flag hanging from a pole attached to his brick home.
Trouble started June 10 when Barnes said a Pride flag on his fence was removed.
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He learned later that four other East Highlands neighbors experienced the same thing, and theft reports were filed with the police.
Despite replacing the flags, the same thing happened the next weekend too, which led him to place a third flag on the chimney, Barnes said.
After spending a day at Pride Fest in Chicago last Saturday, he and his partner returned home to find that one missing as well.
“Someone climbed up on my roof and tore off the flag,” he said.
Barnes said one incident can easily be brushed off as a prank.
“These weren’t random. They were targeting homes with Pride flags,” he said.
Although the flags were stolen multiple times, Barnes said he and neighbors stood firm and continued to replace the flags and call police.
A break came Sunday night when an officer patrolling near the 500 block of Sleight Street observed suspicious activity and a vehicle matching the description from previous thefts, Naperville police said in a Facebook post.
Officers apprehended several juveniles who were in possession of Pride flags and seemingly responsible for the thefts, police Cmdr. Michaus Williams said. Charges are pending, he said.
Barnes said he’s lived in Naperville for 16 years and has never experienced anything like this before.
While he still feels empowered by the response from the community and police, he’s more cautious now and checks every morning and night to see if his flag is still there, he said.
The purple remnant is a symbol now of how Barnes and his neighbors have refused to back down.
Margie Wolf, a member of Naper Pride, said a $20 flag has no real value other than its cost or sentimental value and the symbolism it represents for its owner.
The flags weren’t just taken just one time from just one individual, she said. They were replaced and even put on a roof.
The message the thefts send to residents, Wolf said, is “I’m gonna do what I want on your property, and you’re helpless. You’re powerless to do anything about it. You can’t touch me, and you’re not important enough for me to care.”
That bullying needs to stop, she said.
“Naperville isn’t just the best city to live in for some people. It should be the best for all people,” Wolf said.
She’s appreciative of how the Naperville Police Department responded and restored a sense of safety and order within the larger community, she said.
Naperville police also were alerted to incidents earlier in the month at Anderson’s Bookshop in downtown Naperville, which reported finding books featuring stories of diversity and diverse characters intentionally turned around backwards or hidden behind other books in the store.
“It has become an almost daily occurrence in our Naperville store over the last few weeks. When we do catch the individuals doing this, they are always adults,” Anderson’s wrote on Facebook.
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