Sarah Schulte/The Ithacan Senior Meghan Nikituk reads over a sign that was posted in reaction to the theft of the gay pride flag.

The gay pride flag was stolen for the second time in the three years it has flown on campus for the celebration of Gaypril.

Public Safety Patrol Officer Dirk Hightchew, who is investigating the theft, determined that the rope had been cut on both sides of the lock box holding the rope to the flagpole. The last time the flag was seen flying was during the 5 p.m. campus tour Saturday.

“It is a disappointment that someone or some people would resort to stealing a flag that’s purpose was to raise awareness of the societal marginalization and stigmatization of sexual minorities,” said Lisa Maurer, coordinator of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender education, outreach and services.

Maurer said the theft illustrates the reasons for flying it quite well — fear, shame and marginalization.

“I felt I could be out here on campus, that it was OK to be out and that the flag signaled it was a safe place and people support me,” freshman Joshua Redman said.

Redman, secretary of BIGAYLA, discovered that the flag was missing Sunday afternoon.

Early Monday, signs were posted near the flagpole to alert passers-by to the theft. But by Tuesday, phrases like “It shouldn’t be up,” “Ha ha” and “Someone beat me to it” had already been scrawled on the signs, prompting further upset in the campus LGBT community.

Hightchew said late Tuesday that there were no leads in the case. Any new leads would most likely come from a witness report or from officers finding the stolen flag during a residence hall search, he said.

The new pole on which the flag was flying had been put in place on the Academic Quad in February. A plastic guard to prevent access to the rope was still on back order when the incident occurred, said Sybil Metz, assistant director of the Campus Center and head of solicitation.

The part is expected to arrive soon, Metz said, and until then the Office of Student Affairs and Campus Life is working with the Physical Plant to get a coated rope, which would be much more difficult to tamper with.

“We’re taking measures to try and make it such that future flags cannot be stolen, flags of any type,” Metz said. “In the future, it will be much more difficult.”

Brian McAree, vice president for student affairs and campus life, said that by stealing the flag, someone in the community has shown their ignorance and close-mindedness.

“I’m appalled and disappointed that another rainbow flag has been stolen,” he said.

While McAree said the college is not responsible for replacing the stolen flag, Metz said she volunteered her own flag to fly once the pole is fixed until a replacement can be delivered.

Senior Meredith Stone, publicity chair of BIGAYLA, said it was frustrating to have the flag stolen again after it flew uninterrupted last April.

“I thought people had gotten over stealing it,” she said. “But I guess not.”