An investigation is underway into the theft of pride flags that were stolen from multiple businesses in Los Olivos this week.
These incidents came to light just days after the town celebrated Pride Month by having their central crosswalks on Grand Avenue and Alamo Pintado painted rainbow colors.
Officials with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office say the thefts happened late Wednesday night after many businesses in town had closed for the day.
“When I walked into work, I saw the pole broken and the flag was not there," said Steven Guevara, tasting room manager at Solminer Wines. So, I was kind of worried."
Solminer Wines was not the only nearby business that was hit.
“Last week, a lot of the flags around here just got stolen and presumably destroyed,” said Sarah Christison, a tasting room associate at Dragonette Cellars.
Christison says her business, as well as several others in town, have hung pride flags outside their establishments since one was stolen and burned from St. Mark’s Church in Los Olivos last summer.
And despite these most recent flag thefts, Tuesday morning, you would have never guessed that they were ever stolen in the first place.
“I wasn’t working that day. I came in the next day, and I didn’t even realize it had happened because all of the buildings around here just got new flags and put them up immediately,” Christison added.
Officials with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office say they are still looking for the culprits responsible for the stolen flags, but as their search continues, those visiting Los Olivos for the first time Tuesday, say they were caught off guard by the town’s vibrant displays of rainbow.
“When we first pulled up and arrived, we were looking at the crosswalks and realized they were the rainbow flag and thought, 'Even in Los Olivos, they are celebrating gay pride' which seemed very surprising and delightful,”’ said Derek Gordon, who was visiting from Palm Springs.
However, despite the multiple pride flag incidents that have happened in town this past year, Sarah Christison said she feels more welcomed than ever.
“As terrible it is for that to have happened, it really does just seem to be the work of one, or at least very few highly agitated individuals against the vast majority of town here,” she told KSBY.
Christison adds that instead of these incidents leading to divisiveness, in response, Los Olivos has come together.
“These little catalysts of hate actually made the support bloom exponentially more than it would have without those little catalysts," Christison said. "If the pride flag at the church hadn’t been vandalized, 90% of these flags wouldn’t be here."
She says Dragonette Cellars already has a backup flag waiting, just in case another one is taken from their business.
Other businesses we spoke to say they have also begun taking their pride flags down at the end of the day as another measure to prevent any more thefts.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office encourages anyone with information on these incidents to call the Solvang Sheriff’s Substation at (805) 686-5000.
