1,200 Israeli flags were placed outside Heritage Church in McKinney on Monday, each representing a person killed in the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel. But by Tuesday morning, the tribute had been vandalized, according to the church’s senior pastor.
Len McLaughlin said roughly 200 to 300 flags had been pulled up from the ground, broken or stomped on.
“The horrific deaths that they went through, it’s something we should never forget or let go of,” McLaughlin said.
The flags were placed outside the church to mark three years since the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people, including civilians and security forces.
McLaughlin said he filed a police report after discovering the damage.He said the vandalism was especially upsetting because the flags were meant to honor the people who were killed.
“It’s really the disrespect,” McLaughlin said. “In a way, it’s just dishonoring those who we’re trying to give honor to.”
But the damage was met with a show of support from the community. McLaughlin said five people who are not church members came after seeing the damage and helped put the flags back in place.
“They just worked so hard to completely correct what the vandals had done and make the flags look great again,” McLaughlin said.
He said the church’s support for Israel is not political.
“It isn’t out of just compassion because of the horrors of the Holocaust, but it’s biblical, and it’s deeply spiritual for us,” McLaughlin said.
The flags are now restored outside the church where he says they will continue to stand in remembrance of those killed on October 7.