GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — A Pride flag stolen from Saint John's Episcopal Church in Grand Haven has been returned after surveillance video of the theft went viral on social media.
The theft occurred around 1 a.m. early Saturday morning when a woman was caught on camera walking up the church steps while another person recorded. The footage shows the woman removing the flag and walking away with it.
WATCH: Stolen Pride flag returned to Grand Haven church with apology
Rev. Dr. Jared Cramer, pastor at St. John's Episcopal Church, immediately reviewed the security footage after discovering the flag was missing.
"Immediately I pull up the security footage on my computer and was able to scroll to see when the flag was suddenly no longer there and so we downloaded the video off of our server contacted the police and also posted it to social media in hopes that someone would know who that was with hopes of getting the flag returned to us," Father Cramer said.
After the surveillance video circulated on social media, the church received a promising call.
"We got a phone call here at the church of a gentleman who knew the woman who had taken the flag and wanted to take it back with an apology, saying that she had too much to drink downtown, and they regretted the whole situation," Father Cramer said.
The flag was returned on Tuesday along with a written apology and a donation to the ministry.
Cramer expressed relief at having the flag returned and hopes the incident can spark meaningful conversation about the LGBTQ community and the church.
"If you are a person of faith, no matter whether you affirm or don't affirm the queer community, maybe to consider how we can engage with one another with more love, more respect, more curiosity, so we don't have to be at loggerheads with one another," Father Cramer said.
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