SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - As Pride month begins, a College Area woman found her Pride flag torn by a vandal.
Noises led Kelly Garner to a disturbing discovery on Memorial Day evening at the front of her home, where her Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride flag had been torn.
“I heard laughing, teenage boys it sounded like, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps running away,” said Garner.
Garner, who has a LGBTQ+ family member, put up the flag a few years ago.
“It was gut-wrenching. It was like my heart sunk … to visually see hatred, it's hard,” said Garner.
It’s a sentiment echoed by Scripps Ranch resident, Brittany Fuller.
Fuller's Pride mural, including a rainbow-painted fence, has been targeted six times in the past year, from vandalism to Pride flags stolen.
“The Pride flag is so important, because it represents who we are,” said Garner.
Fuller says that representation is here to stay. By Sunday, Fuller is expected to mount six different Pride flags along the fence.
“Giving people a place to know they are accepted here,” said Fuller.
Fuller's flag plan comes as a string of local school districts and city halls have weighed the issue of raising Pride flags.
For Fuller, the symbolism is personal and meaningful. She has a response to the vandalism.
“The general message we’re sending is, we aren't going anywhere. We are who we are,” said Fuller. “Trying to take away our visibility, of who we are. It will never happen!"
Back in the College Area, a day after the vandalism, Garner put up a new Intersex Pride flag.
“I'm not going to let hate win. I’m not going to allow anyone to stomp on anyone's feelings,” said Fuller.
Fuller is planning on pop-up concerts at her Pride mural throughout the summer.
Her vandalism cases remain unsolved.
