Firefighters In Towson Replace Defaced American Flag On September 11

TOWSON, MD - After the flag of one Baltimore County volunteer fire company was defaced this week, its members installed a new one to display on Sept. 11.

The Providence Volunteer Fire Company has flown its flag on the Interstate 695 overpass in the area of Providence Road for more than 15 years. Thousands of drivers who travel along the Baltimore Beltway see it daily.

When it was spray-painted on Sunday, firefighters immediately condemned the act.

"We are truly disappointed to see such an act of ignorance and disrespect within our community, especially on the eve of September 11th," the fire company posted on its Facebook page.

"Out of respect for our flag, our community, our country, and the men and women who have given their lives to ensure that our flag will always fly, we have removed the defaced flags and will be replacing them with new ones in honor of all those who have given their lives defending our freedom and for the 343 FDNY brothers whose lives were lost on 9/11/01. WE WILL NEVER FORGET!!!"

For the observance of the 16-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the fire company put a new flag in place of the defaced one.

In what its members called a "refreshing" gesture, the fire company reported that someone had dropped off flowers at the station on Sept. 11. The bouquet was placed at a memorial for the 343 firefighters who died in the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, below a piece of steel from the World Trade Center.

Image via Shutterstock.