WA residents take Pride flag vandalism concerns to Poulsbo City Hall

Community reacts to vandalized Pride flags

A masked person took sheers to Poulsbo pride flags hours after they were hung

POULSBO, Wash. - Residents and allies of the LGBTQ+ community took concerns to City Hall after nearly a dozen Pride Flags were slashed in Historic downtown Poulsbo.

Mayor Becky Erickson and several City Council members denounced the vandalism during Wednesday night's City Council meeting, but some in the community want to know why the city of Poulsbo has not issued a press release and spoken out sooner.

"What pisses me off is that this is day five and there is still no public statement to the community," said Pam Keeley, one of the founders of Poulsbo for All.

Mayor Erickson acknowledged those concerns and said she didn't want to interrupt the investigation.

"The defacing of the banners is an ongoing and criminal investigation and as Mayor of Poulsbo, I never make comments about ongoing criminal investigations," said Mayor Erickson.

Some who spoke out during public commentary called for more action from the city.

"You must make it clear that any attempt to intimidate and silence us will be treated as a hate crime," said Linda Holt.

Natalie Artemyeff, a board member for Poulsbo Pride, voiced her support of the LGBTQ+ community at the City Council meeting and wanted to know if police have made any progress in this case.

"It would be great to get an update on how this investigation is going," said Artemyeff.

Poulsbo Police have not provided any updates since its initial Facebook post alerting the public about the vandalism and did not respond to FOX 13.