Geneseo has a flag thief.
According to Director of College Union and Activities Chip Matthews, on Sunday, March 2 between 2:15 a.m and 3:45 a.m., the flags of Argentina, Australia, Denmark, Indonesia, Italy and Jamaica were ripped off of their poles in the College Union.
Five of the flags were replaced via overnight delivery in time for Governor Spitzer's visit Wednesday morning, but as of Wednesday afternoon University Police had no information about who might have stolen the flags, nor could it confirm whether or not Geneseo students were involved.
Matthews said that each flag costs $75 plus additional fees for fire treating and installation. He said the situation was "disappointing," noting that, "when you go out and steal other people's flags…that doesn't send the kind of message that we want."
Including the six stolen over the weekend, 12 flags have been stolen in the past two years. Matthews said that he is working with UP to improve the security of the Union and of the flags specifically.
The flags have alarms on them, which did go off; this may have prevented other flags from being stolen.
Matthews asked that anyone with information about the crime use the Silent Witness Form on the UP Web site.