GREENSBORO, N.C. — Coming into work Thursday morning, staff at Guilford Green Foundation & LGBTQ Center in downtown Greensboro immediately saw something out of place.
"Our flag that usually is flying, probably outside of our building, was gone, and left in its place was a broken flagpole dangling from the side of the building," said Jennifer Ruppe, Executive Director of the LGBTQ foundation.
Looking back through their security footage from the night before, Ruppe said two people appeared around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday. She said the video shows them looking at the flag, looking in the foundation's window, and then walking out of frame. Ruppe said they came back with a trashcan, standing on it to reach and rip down the flag.
"We as an organization decided that in addition to following an official police report, that we wanted to let the community know that this is not an acceptable thing to do," said Ruppe. "We see it as an act of aggression against the LGBTQ community. And we wanted to send a clear message that it's not okay."
To send that message, the foundation shared an image of the two people shown on video ripping down the flag. They are also offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest of those people.
"We're looking at $150 to $200 in property damage," said Ruppe. "So that's not a huge dollar amount. But the harm that it did to the people in the center, to staff who had to come in and see that, to volunteers that came in that day. That you can't put a dollar amount on that."
The money for the reward will come out of the foundation's budget. Ruppe said people reached out asking if they could pay for the damages or purchase a new flag. While the foundation had a backup flag up less than 24 hours after the first one was torn down, Ruppe said if people want to send them pride flags: "You cannot have too many pride flags."
"We will certainly make sure that they get distributed to other people and share them, you know, with the community," said Ruppe. "And maybe we can flood the city with pride flags."
Ruppe said at the end of the day, the cost of damages or the money needed to pay the reward is not what is important.
"It's about making sure that people know that we're here and that we're committed to providing a safe place," said Ruppe. "We want the LGBTQ center to be a shining light of acceptance and diversity in our city."
Her message to the people who tore down the foundation's flag: "We are going to blast your picture out there. And hopefully, we're going to find you."
If you know anything about the incident or the people involved, Guilford Green Foundation & LGBTQ Center asks that you call them at 336-790-8419.
Stay connected to local, national, and breaking news: Download the WFMY News 2 app.
►Text the word APP to 336-379-5775