Vandals destroy flag at Gold Bar City Hall

GOLD BAR — The graffiti was bad enough, but vandals in Gold Bar did more than deface buildings.

Someone apparently used a crude Molotov cocktail to destroy the American flag that flew in front of city hall.

“Oh my goodness, I’m stunned,” said Dorothy Corshaw, a member of the Martin-Osterholtz Veterans of Foreign Wars post in town. “I’m totally stunned. It just hurts my heart.”

Corshaw, whose brother was a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, said it is hard to understand why someone would do such a thing.

A deputy from the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office was called to City Hall early Tuesday morning to investigate the red, white, blue and black remnants.

He found parts of the flag melted to a rock in a fountain in front of City Hall, according to a sheriff’s office report.

“The rock was covered in soot from the burned flag and had two smaller rocks on top of it, which were holding the flag down,” the report said.

The deputy then inspected the area around the flag and found pieces of a broken and burned beer bottle.

The neck of the bottle was partially melted on landscaping stones around the fountain. It was wrapped with tape and had a burned rag sticking out of it, the deputy wrote.

A City Hall employee reported the vandalism early Tuesday morning.

He first discovered graffiti on the town’s marquee and at City Hall.

One bit of graffiti said “ALL RISE” in black spray paint with a picture similar to a smiley face with a straight mouth and eyes that looked like musical notes.

Similar scrawl was found on a city park gazebo and at Gold Bar Elementary School.

After the deputy took photographs and collected evidence, volunteers scrubbed away the graffiti.

“One of the first rules about graffiti is you clean it up quickly,” Gold Bar Mayor Joe Beavers said.

The mayor said the destruction of the American flag was particularly troubling.

“That has irritated a lot of people in town,” Beavers said. “We have a lot of retired and ex-military living around here.”

Anyone with information about the vandalism spree is asked to call the sheriff’s office tipline at 425-388-3845.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Girl, 11, missing from Lynnwood

Sha’niece Watson’s family is concerned for her safety, according to the sheriff’s office. She has ties to Whidbey Island.

A cyclist crosses the road near the proposed site of a new park, left, at the intersection of Holly Drive and 100th Street SW on Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett to use $2.2M for Holly neighborhood’s first park

The new park is set to double as a stormwater facility at the southeast corner of Holly Drive and 100th Street SW.

The Grand Avenue Park Bridge elevator after someone set off a fire extinguisher in the elevator last week, damaging the cables and brakes. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Grand Avenue Park Bridge vandalized, out of service at least a week

Repairs could cost $5,500 after someone set off a fire extinguisher in the elevator on April 27.

Lynnwood
Car hits pedestrian pushing stroller in Lynnwood, injuring baby, adult

The person was pushing a stroller on 67th Place W, where there are no sidewalks, when a car hit them from behind, police said.

Snohomish County Courthouse. (Herald file)
Everett substitute judge faces discipline for forged ‘joke’ document

David Ruzumna, a judge pro tem, said it was part of a running gag with a parking attendant. The Commission on Judicial Conduct wasn’t laughing.

Boeing firefighters union members and supporters hold an informational picket at Airport Road and Kasch Park Road on Monday, April 29, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Biden weighs in on Boeing lockout of firefighters in Everett, elsewhere

On Thursday, the president expressed support for the firefighters, saying he was “concerned” Boeing had locked them out over the weekend.

Marysville
Marysville high school office manager charged with sex abuse of student

Carmen Phillips, 37, sent explicit messages to a teen at Heritage High School, then took him to a park, according to new charges.

Bothell
1 dead after fatal motorcycle crash on Highway 527

Ronald Lozada was riding south when he crashed into a car turning onto the highway north of Bothell. He later died.

Riaz Khan finally won office in 2019 on his fifth try. Now he’s running for state Legislature. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
Ex-Democratic leader from Mukilteo switches parties for state House run

Riaz Khan resigned from the 21st Legislative District Democrats and registered to run as a Republican, challenging Rep. Strom Peterson.

Tlingit Artist Fred Fulmer points to some of the texture work he did on his information totem pole on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, at his home in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
11-foot totem pole, carved in Everett, took 35 years to make — or 650

The pole crafted by Fred Fulmer is bound for Alaska, in what will be a bittersweet sendoff Saturday in his backyard.

Shirley Sutton
Sutton resigns from Lynnwood council, ‘effective immediately’

Part of Sutton’s reason was her “overwhelming desire” to return home to the Yakima Valley.

Vehicles turn onto the ramp to head north on I-5 from 41st Street in the afternoon on Friday, June 2, 2023, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Northbound I-5 gets squeezed this weekend in Everett

I-5 north will be down to one lane starting Friday. The closure is part of a project to add a carpool lane from Everett to Marysville.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.