The owner of a Jersey City hair salon says that a rainbow "Gay Pride" flag that has hung outside her shop for the past two months was set on fire over the weekend.
The flag hung from a flower planter. It was placed there by an unknown person following a rally held in Jersey City for the victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando.
Hair Room owner Anatalie David says that she was away for the weekend, and discovered that someone burned the flag when she returned to the shop.
"I came home to find...what I thought was just dirt and maybe the flag flipped up, but it was the flag completely just burnt to a crisp," David says.
The incident is being investigated by Jersey City officials. The salon is located at the corner of Grove and Montgomery, just yards away from City Hall. Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop says that he considers the act to be a hate crime.
"It's being pursued as such," he says. "We have no tolerance for that at all."
The flag has already been replaced by LGBT supporters.