The new flag hung above two benches outside the center, one painted in rainbow colors and the other bearing the phrase “Black Lives Matter.” “We want our LGBTQ+ community to know that we will always love, support, and embrace you with open arms,” the center said, along with photos showing blurred images of the Confederate flag where the pride flag had previously hung.

The center, which said that the removal of its pride flags has “ been an ongoing issue ,” called the incident a “hate crime” that “ goes against all that we believe.” In a Saturday Facebook post, the Wesley Center said that early that morning, a pride flag hanging outside its building had been torn down and replaced with one Confederate flag in the front of the building and another one in the back. The Blacksburg Police Department confirmed to The Hill that it was looking into a larceny report from the Wesley Center, a Methodist campus ministry group on Virginia Tech’s campus.

Police are investigating reports that a rainbow pride flag was stolen from a religious center on Virginia Tech’s campus for the third time in two weeks and that it was most recently replaced by two Confederate flags.