CUMMING - A northwest Forsyth County homeowner woke up Tuesday morning and discovered someone had taken their rainbow flag and set it on fire.
The homeowner, who lives in a subdivision off of Hurt Bridge Road, called the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office. Deputies are now investigating the act as a hate crime.
"The homeowner had a rainbow flag flying on their home, and the flag was removed at some time during the night, laid across their windshield and then set on fire," said Deputy Robin Regan. "The vehicle, luckily, did not fully ignite. Also, an accelerate was also spread around the vehicle in almost a circle and ignited."
Regan said a tree nearby was also damaged in the process.
The homeowner, who is not being identified, typically flew an American flag on the post, but hung up a rainbow flag following the Supreme Court's decision on gay marriage.
"We are treating this as a hate crime and we are taking it very seriously," said Regan. "We have detectives from our property crimes unit as well as our special victims unit working together on this."
Regan said anyone with information is urged to contact the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office.
