Flag memorial to 13 slain US troops vandalized

RIVERSIDE >> Someone severely vandalized flags hung on a Southern California freeway overpass to honor the 13 U.S. service members killed in the suicide bombing at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport last month, police said.

A citizen reported the damage to the 13 American flags and a Marine Corps flag that were attached to a fence on a bridge over the State Route 91 freeway in the city of Riverside, local police said in a social media post Tuesday.

“At this point, we don’t have any suspect description but it’s obvious the flags were intentionally damaged,” police said.

Photos posted by police showed large sections of some of the flags had been cut or torn apart.

The flags were removed and will be turned over to a Boy Scout troop for “proper retirement,” police said.

The 13 Americans who were killed included 11 Marines, one Navy sailor and one Army soldier. Four were from California.