In a two-day span, two Willow Glen households experienced having flags stolen from their property and reportedly burned. On Sept. 8 at approximately 9:45 p.m., the Napolitano residence on Camino Pablo experienced the theft of two American flags, one that was in a flag holder on the family's porch and the other a plastic flag that was attached to a play structure. Stacy Napolitano said that one of her neighbors told her that she saw several individuals walking down the street with a flag aflame. However, the police have no evidence that this was the Napolitano's flag.

On Sept. 9 in the early hours of the morning, unknown individuals also stole a decorative flag from the Faler residence on Carolyn Avenue and proceeded to set the flag on fire and rest it against the next-door neighbor's wooden fence. Leslie Faler said the only reason the fence did not catch on fire was because the flag was fire-retardant.

In both incidents, neighbors noticed the crimes and contacted the police and the people at the residences. Both Faler and Napolitano said they were home during the time of the occurrences but did not hear anything.

"I felt very violated," Napolitano said. "Someone had to come through our fence to take the flag. The fact that someone had to come that close to my home concerns me."

Napolitano said she and her family experienced similar thefts when they lived on Fairview Avenue before they moved to Camino Pablo two years ago. However, she said this was the first time a stolen item had been set on fire.

"We moved to Camino Pablo because we though it was a nice, safe street," she said. "We weren't expecting something like this to happen."

Although two other flags have been stolen from her porch over the last three years, Faler said this was the first time one of them had been burnt on her property. Faler added that she was especially concerned about the potential damage a burning object could cause.

"It has the potential to be a dangerous situation," she said, "not just for property damage but if someone's house catches on fire."

In both cases, the residents and their neighbors filed a report with the San Jose Police Department, but the authorities have made no arrests, according to San Jose Police Department spokesman Sgt. Steve Dixon.

Dixon said there is little the police department can do in situations such as these.

"The best answer is don't rely on the police department," he said. "Rely on your neighbors. It's best to have a good relationship with your neighbors and keep an eye out for each other."

Both Faler and Napolitano said their neighborhoods are close-knit, and the residents keep an eye out for unusual occurrences. But they both said that the community should be aware of the situations that they experienced and be extra alert for anything out of the ordinary.

Although Faler and Napolitano don't live on the same street, they became aware that they shared their experiences through the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association elist. Napolitano said that although she was sorry someone else's flag was also burned, she was relieved to discover she wasn't singled out.

"I felt that maybe I had been targeted," she said. "The fact that the flag had been burnt really concerned me. But the fact that it happened to someone else shows that this is something we need to watch out for in the community."