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"There's a horrible tragedy going on daily in Iraq," said Reza. "And for a lot of people for different reasons, it doesn't seem to impact them the way I think it should. So this is a reminder about the loss of life."
For every 10 American fighting men and women, Reza plants a flag. Given more than 4,000 have died, he's planted about 400. Reza said he started his flag-planting project two and a half years ago, and he said he never thought in his wildest dreams that anyone would stoop so low as to steal some of them.
Reza said when he came out to his front lawn last Thursday morning, he noticed more than a hundred of his flags had been stolen. He said he knows some people don't agree with his tribute, but in America, he has the right to express himself.
"We want to think about what's going on, discuss it, agree, disagree, that's fine," said Reza. "But to come out here in the middle of the night, I think it's a disgrace, I think it's an insult to the men and women who have died over there."
Reza said this setback won't stop him from planting more flags.
"I did report it to the Sheriff's Department and they said they would increase their patrols in the area," said Reza. "They said I might consider a security camera. I've been thinking of putting in a motion-sensitive light."
Reza said if our troops can continue to fight, he can fight to keep Old Glory on his front lawn honoring America's soldiers.
