(WSB photo)

If you drove by American Legion Post 160 in The Triangle this evening and noticed SPD and yellow tape – here’s what brought them there: A case of flag-burning. We found out from a texted tip (thank you); the tipster said the Ladder 11 crew from Station 32 across the street had not only extinguished the fire, they had quickly donated a flag to replace the one that had been burned, and sent this photo:

When we arrived, police were getting ready to leave; we talked to the Station 32 crew, and to Post 160 commander Keith Hughes. He told us the flag was ignited by a man who’s been helping out around the Post for a while in exchange for permission to sleep on the porch. He does a variety of odd jobs and has been very helpful, Hughes said. But today, he took down the flag that flies outside Post 160 – then put it up again, brought it down again, and then for unknown reasons, set it on fire. That brought SFD – you’ll see the “illegal burn” call on the Real-Time 911 log – and police. The suspect, meantime, took off and had not been found when we talked with officers at the scene. What remains of the burned flag is in this bag:

Hughes tells us they’ll keep it until their next scheduled flag-disposal ceremony.