Residents angered after makeshift 9/11 memorial removed in King County

A makeshift 9/11 memorial that’s been up for more than 16 years was removed from the Preston-Fall City Road.

As they were taking it down, a King County road crew left a note saying that someone called to complain that the American flag was offensive.

“A number of people are flat out outraged that the American flag can be considered offensive,” said the man behind an effort to replace the memorial. “This one small act that they did was actually a very large act.”

A Facebook page dedicated to the makeshift memorial was set up.

Some irritated neighbors have started putting flags back up in place of the missing memorial, but they worry the county might come back and take them down.

They’re reaching out to County Councilmember Kathy Lambert, who has promised to schedule a community meeting to figure out if they can come to a compromise.

But, as of Tuesday, no date has been set for that meeting.

This is the statement from Lambert’s office:

There is nothing scheduled yet, but Councilmember Lambert is in discussions with various county divisions about it. If we end up moving forward on it, it won’t be until the last couple weeks of August.