Family Told to Remove Flags from Balcony | News

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — An American Flag waves outside the entrance of the Cornerstone Apartments in Independence but there’s a battle over patriotism inside the complex.  Kayla Caroll has been told to removed two small American Flags and a larger U.S. Marine flag that hangs from her second floor balcony.

She asks, “How do you live in the United States of America and tell somebody they can’t fly their flags?” Her Husband is a U.S. Marine who served in Iraq. She first hung the American flags about three weeks ago without any problems. But when she added the larger Marine flag about a week ago she received a notice from management to remove all the flags.

On Monday she received a final notice giving her 24 hours to remove the flags.

“The final notices with the flags, have just rubbed me and my husband the wrong way when he fights for our rights to fly the flags,” Carroll said.

The general manager of Cornerstone Apartments says the Carroll’s are violating the their lease which forbids the draping of any items from the balcony handrails.

In a statement provided to FOX 4, General Manager Lori BeBout says, “Cornerstone Apartments shares completely Ms. Carroll’s great pride in our nations armed forces, and in the magnificent effort and sacrifice they make for our country. However, the issue in this instance is one of precedent, not patriotism. The terms of Ms. Carroll’s lease prohibit signage of any sort because if we make an exception and allow it for one event or cause, no matter how worthy, there is nothing to stop other residents from demanding the same right, regardless of motivation or the nature of the issue they espouse. We hope Ms. Carroll will understand our position and remove the signage in keeping with her lease terms.”

Carroll tells FOX 4 she and her family will likely move when their lease is up in June.