St. Louis antique store owner Cherri Elder formed positive relationships with police patrolling in the area, so she decided to display an American flag containing a thin blue line — a symbol for police sacrifice — in front of Elder’s Antiques.

But the gesture didn’t go over well with everybody.

“People came by, they would cuss at you, they would harass you,” Elder told KMOV-TV, “they would harass the customers.”

Image source: KMOV-TV video screenshot

Elder told the station she took down the thin blue line flag to avoid continued trouble.

“I thought things were getting better,” she told KMOV. “But apparently it’s not.”

What happened?

A month after taking down the thin blue line flag — which is now displayed inside her 32-year-old store — Elder told the station she found a large handwritten sign on the front window of Elder’s Antiques that read: “Pig supporters not welcome. Flag goes down or you go down.”

On the right bottom corner of the sign was a hammer and sickle — presumably standing for communism and the former Soviet Union — along with the letters “MLM,” which KMOV said often stands for Marxism-Leninism- Maoism.

Image source: KMOV-TV video screenshot>

What happened at a nearby store?

A window at Delmay Ltd. Antiques — one of Elder’s neighbors a few doors down — is now boarded up.

Image source: KMOV-TV video screenshot

Why?

Three individuals were seen on surveillance video kicking in the window and running off, KMOV reported.

Image source: KMOV-TV video screenshot

“My business, my friends are being targeted,” Elder told KMOV.

While Elder added to the station that she has “every right to fly a flag,” she said she doesn’t think she’ll be putting it back on display.