WEST BARNSTABLE – Barnstable Police report that on Friday morning January 15th 2021 Massachusetts State Representative Steven Xiarhos called them to report that all fourteen of the First Responder Flags that he maintains on the First Responders Appreciation Route 149 Overpass in West Barnstable had been vandalized.
Upon investigation, it appears that the flags had been sprayed with an unknown liquid that melted the flag material. The Barnstable County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations Unit gathered the flags as evidence for further testing regarding the vandalism.
This is the fifth time the flags have been vandalized or stolen since being placed on the overpass in 2018.
The flags have been purchased by donations to the Nicholas G. Xiarhos Memorial Foundation, which State Rep. Xiarhos started in honor of his late son Nick who was killed while serving with the Marine Corps in Afghanistan in 2009.
There are no known suspects at this time, however, a local citizen has offered a $2,500 reward for any information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the offender(s).
If you have any information relating to this crime, please contact the Barnstable Police Department Tip Line at 508-362-0889 or email Detective Sergeant John York at [email protected].
