HOLLAND, Mich. — As Independence Day arrives, this is a time for Americans to show patriotism for their country. And one of the best ways to do that is flying the iconic star bangled, red, white and blue flag. One company was ready, but then their flag was stolen.
After Denooyer Chevrolet in Holland's flag was stolen Sunday morning, owner Nicole Denooyer said she was "just kind of, like, bewildered, shocked, disappointed."
That's because it's "the fact that somebody would want to steal the flag," which wasn't small either. The flag was 30 by 60 ft. and hung on their 100 ft. flagpole. Denooyer thought it would be hard to steal, but when she looked at the surveillance video from when it was stolen on June 26 at 3 a.m., it showed that the suspects simply took it down.
Ever since 1965 when they moved to the building a flag has been raised at Denooyer Chevrolet. It was important for her grandfather to put one up as he had served in the Marines.
Denooyer said that none of their flags had ever been stolen before.
As the days passed, Denooyer said she didn't know how important the flag was to the community until a number of people called in wondering why it wasn't flying heading into July. She said that's when they decided to do a Facebook post informing everyone it was stolen and they were working on getting a new one up.
Denooyer Chevrolet ordered a new flag Tuesday and by the end of Wednesday it was proudly flying high.
But when it settled in on what happened, the community's reaction was instant.
Many offered to do a GoFundMe page and others had offered to buy Denooyer Chevrolet a new flag. She said that the "support and then the appreciation that we've gotten from calls or customers coming in saying, 'hey, thanks so much for flying your flag. And on the Fourth of July, it's really important to have your flag flying. So, you know, it's been really nice to honor the tradition.'"
Denooyer's grandfather passed away last August at the incredible age of 93.
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