LGBTQ Pride flags by Stonewall Inn vandalized 3 times in 8 days

The NYPD is investigating three separate incidents of vandalized Pride flags outside the historic Stonewall Inn over the last eight days.

The latest incident was discovered on Sunday around 8 a.m., when police found 33 Pride flags broken and on the ground near the LGBTQ bar and national monument in Greenwich Village.

That’s after the Pride flag display near the Inn was vandalized last weekend — the first time in the display's six-year history that it's been vandalized so extensively, according to creator Steven Love Menendez.

On Saturday, June 10 around 3 a.m., three men walking by the monument broke multiple pride flags displayed on a fence, police said. Of the more than 250 flags in the display, Menendez said that day he found 50 to 60 removed, “broken off and just left hanging there and thrown down on the ground.”

Multiple Pride flags nearby were also found broken on Thursday around 1 p.m, police said.

"I just hope that there can be more surveillance and at nighttime, better lighting around the park to keep this particular area, which is kind of the heart and soul of the LGBTQ movement, as safe as possible," Menendez said Monday. "This neighborhood, especially during pride, should be well protected."

The NYPD Hate Crime Task force is investigating the first incident, and has been notified about the latter two, police said.

Police have not publicly confirmed if the three incidents are connected and no arrests have yet been made.

Catalina Gonella contributed reporting. This story has been updated with additional comment.