A Hudson Valley man says he was sick to his stomach after finding a desecrated American flag.

Chris Edwards arrived at Stanley Still Park in the Town of Poughkeepsie for an over-60 senior league softball game on Wednesday. He tells us the league is made up of many veterans and retired first responders. Edwards himself is a retired FDNY firefighter who responded to the 9/11 attacks.

Chris Edwards
Chris Edwards
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Upon arriving at the park, Edwards thought it was strange that the American Flag was missing. During a ceremony on Monday to open the season, Edwards says he and his fellow players gathered around the flagpole for the Pledge of Allegiance. But on Wednesday the flag was no longer there. After returning from one of the portable toilets at the field, a senior league player announced that he had found the flag stuffed in the port-o-potty.

According to Edwards, he saw the flag shoved into the port-o-potty, covered in "human feces and Urine." Disgusted and angry, Edwards and the other players called the company that owns the toilets requesting they come and pump it out to recover the flag. Unable to accommodate the request without permission from the Town, the ballplayers took matters into their own hands, finding a large stick to remove the flag.

Chris Edwards
Chris Edwards
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Edwards says the flag was fished out of the bottom of the toilet and cleaned off with water. The players then hung it to dry in the sun. A police officer who responded to the scene assured the men that he would contact the American Legion to retrieve the flag and dispose of it properly.

Just last week a 9/11 memorial park in Washingtonville was vandalized. A flagpole was cut down and the memorial was covered in graffiti. The incident is still under investigation by the Washingtonville police. It's unclear if authorities believe the desecrated flag found at Stanley Still park is the work of vandals. Edwards says the police have indicated that they will be doing regular drive-bys to keep an eye on the flag.

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