Police are investigating the theft of more than 200 Pride flags in Carlisle, Massachusetts, that occurred just before Pride month – and amid a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ measures from US legislatures.

In a statement released on Friday, the Carlisle police department announced that it is investigating the theft of the flags, which were taken out of a prominent local traffic circle earlier in the week.

The police said that on 27 May they were notified that the flags, which had been placed in the traffic circle, had been stolen overnight. The flags were last seen on Sunday evening.

“We are taking this very seriously,” the Carlisle police chief, Andrew Amendola, said. He added: “It is unfortunate, as Carlisle is an inclusive community, and we want everyone to feel safe and welcomed here.”

In a statement on Facebook, Travis Snell, chair of the Carlisle select board, which acts as the community’s governing board, said: “Such action and behavior have no place in Carlisle, and our police department is working to identify whoever is responsible and they will be held accountable.”

“On behalf of the town of Carlisle, the Select Board would like to reiterate that Carlisle is an inclusive community that respects its freedoms and the rights of individuals,” Snell added, according to the local news station NBC10.

According to NBC10, people replaced the flags within hours of them being stolen.

Pride month in June is an annual celebration of LGBTQ+ people. It recognizes the 1969 uprising at the Stonewall Inn bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village, where patrons fomented the modern LGBTQ+ protest and celebration movement by resisting police harassment and extortion.

The theft of the flags comes amid heightened discrimination against LGBTQ+ communities across the US. A poll released by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute in March has revealed that public support for same-sex marriage and nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ communities has declined.

Support for same-sex marriage has declined from 69% to 67% in the last year, the poll revealed, adding that Americans aged 18 to 29 showed a gradual decrease in support for LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination laws over the last three years. In 2020, the support stood at 83% whereas it dipped to 75% in 2023.

Meanwhile, South Carolina’s Republican governor, Henry McMaster, recently signed a bill into law that bans gender-affirming care for transgender minors, making the state the 25th in the US to restrict or ban gender-affirming care for minors.

So far in 2024, there have been at least 515 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced across the country, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

“While more states every year work to pass laws to protect LGBTQ people, state legislatures are advancing bills that target transgender people, limit local protections and allow the use of religion to discriminate,” the ACLU said. “The ACLU will not stop speaking out against these cruel attacks nationwide. LGBTQ people have a right to live in safety, to thrive and to be treated with dignity.”