For the second consecutive night, Israeli flags were taken from a Springfield church, a pastor with Crossfire World Outreach Ministries said in a statement Thursday, Oct. 8.

The small flags had been affixed to the property’s fencing in memory of victims of terrorist attacks that took place Oct. 7, 2023, in Israel.

Crossfire World Outreach Ministries in a statement Wednesday said unknown individuals entered their property at about 3:45 a.m. Oct. 7 on the 900 block of 28th Street.

The small flags had been affixed to the property’s fencing in memory of victims of terrorist attacks that took place Oct. 7, 2023, in Israel. The flags went up in coordination with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, according to the church.

Springfield Police Department Lt. Justin Myers confirmed the church reported the Oct. 7 theft to police.

“Hopefully the investigation will identify those responsible but at this point we have limited initial information,” Myers said in an email.

Myers said it is “too early to definitively call this a bias crime, but it could certainly be one and will be investigated with that in mind.”

Church members responded by putting up new flags Wednesday.

“These flags represent lives that were lost and families who continue to grieve,” the church’s senior pastor, Aaron Taylor, said in a statement Wednesday. “What happened is deeply troubling, but it will not stop us from remembering the victims or standing against hatred.”

But the church announced Thursday that flags had again been stolen overnight.

“This is antisemitic intimidation. It is an attempt to create fear in our church and in our community — to make people afraid to speak, afraid to remember, and afraid to stand with people they care about,” Taylor said in a statement Thursday.