Hundreds of Israeli flags vandalized outside church in McKinney, Texas, ahead of Oct. 7 observance

It was designed to be a striking display of support for Israel during a week of remembrance of the deadly Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. But the symbolic gesture outside a church in McKinney, Texas, has instead made it a target of threats and vandalism. 

Len McLaughlin, senior pastor of Heritage Church, had 1,200 small Israeli flags placed around the property in memory of the approximately 1,200 victims of the deadly attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas that took place three years ago Wednesday.   

"We feel it is biblical and deeply spiritual to be a church that supports Israel," McLaughlin said. "... We feel it is important to take a moment to remember those folks, and in their memory, we put the flags up."

But when the pastor arrived at his church Tuesday morning, he found hundreds of flags pulled up and tossed into piles. 

"They pulled all of them up and stomped all them all of them into the ground, really just showed total disrespect," McLaughlin said. "... They came in the darkness of night. They're cowards who did this. They're not patriots."

The pastor filed a police report, but said he was moved by the sight of people he didn't know who came to the church and were working to restore the display. 

"And to my surprise, there were five strangers from our community, a couple of ladies from the veterinary clinic across the street," McLaughlin said. 

The church is also receiving support from residents in the neighborhood. 

"It's beyond belief," resident Russ Mortenson said of the vandalism. "It's hard for me to understand that. I found them to be very impressive and hopefully meaningful."

McLaughlin says the church has also been receiving threats over the exhibit. 

The flag display has been restored, and the church plans to expand its security while the display is up. 

"I wouldn't want anybody to go to jail over it, but I certainly would like for them to be fined and treated as criminals because what they did was criminal," McLaughlin said.