A repentant thief who stole an American flag from a Long Island home returned it Friday, properly folded into a triangle, along with a note reading, “I am so sorry. I had no idea.’’
The flag was ripped off Monday from the Huntington Station home of Melissa Ielpi-Brengel, who had been presented with it in memory of her 29-year-old brother, Jonathan Ielpi, an FDNY member who died at Ground Zero.
“Good news,’’ she wrote her Facebook friends.
“It was outside the house when we woke up.
“The flag means so much to me and my family and we are so happy and grateful that it was returned an we are able to display it again,’’ she said.
She added that she had no idea who took it or why, but said she was glad the thief “did the right thing by returning it.’’