Potential hate crime investigated after Ukrainian flag torn down from yard, defiled

Palo Alto police investigated a potential hate crime earlier this week after a Ukrainian flag was damaged in a front yard, police said.

At approximately 2:30 p.m. last Thursday, a resident from the 1400 block of Alma Street reported that their Ukrainian flag had been torn down and left in a bundle in their front yard, officers said.

Officers said feces were found inside the bundled flag.

The incident, now being investigated as a hate crime, is believed to have occurred on the evening of April 6 or the morning of April 7, police said.

No similar incidents involving the Ukrainian flag have been reported in Palo Alto.

Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call the Palo Alto’s 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 383-8984.