PARAMUS — Just as the nation was preparing to celebrate Independence Day, vandals destroyed a flagpole in front of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post, the latest in a string of damage done to the property.

On June 29, VFW members discovered around 10:30 a.m. that their flagpole, which was flying both the American flag and Prisoner of War flag, had been cut from the ground overnight and toppled over in front of their building on Winslow Place, said Paramus Police Detective Lt. James Teehan.

"We don’t know if this is vandalism out of anger or maybe public events or if it was a situation where they were looking at the flagpole for metal material," Teehan said.

If the vandal was looking at the flagpole to sell the metal, they might have abandoned the plan after seeing that the flagpole was fiberglass, said Teehan.

This isn’t the first vandalism incident that has occurred at the VFW post in recent times. In the past month, someone also stole park benches and flower planters, said Teehan.

"We don’t know if it’s someone who’s looking for an opportunity to grab stuff or if they have a beef with the veterans," said Teehan. "Without any suspects at this point, it’s hard to pinpoint a reason for something like this. It’s such a level of disrespect."  

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The local community, however, has decided to stand by the veterans and make improvements to VFW post property after these incidents. The Paramus Police Benevolent Association tried to purchase a new fiberglass flagpole for the veterans from local business America the Beautiful Flag and Flagpoles, but the owner of the Oradell store decided to donate the pole after hearing what happened.

Veterans are close to the heart of Chris Macaluso, owner of America the Beautiful Flag and Flagpoles, as his father and his brother served in the military.

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"I know how upset they were about their flagpole being down," said Macaluso. "You feel bad for these guys. They did everything they could for our country and they were pretty upset about it. It’s just a little something we can do."

The PBA will instead partner with other local groups, including the Bergen Ancient Order of Hibernians, to plant new landscaping features and place new benches around a new, more visible location for the post's flagpole, Teehan said

Teehan said anybody with information about the vandalism can contact the Paramus Police Department Detective Bureau at 201-262-3400.

Stephanie Noda is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.