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Two U.S. flags usually decorate the towers of the iconic
bridge, which opened in 1883, but on Tuesday morning on they had
been replaced with stark white flags that, on closer inspection,
appeared to be the stars and stripes with all the color bleached
out, police said.
The white flags have since been taken down, and the red, white
and blue ones restored.
"This may be somebody's art project or may be somebody's attempt
at making some kind of statement," John Miller, the deputy
commissioner for intelligence and counter-terrorism, said at a
press conference, "but it's not clear what that statement is."
Video camera footage shows several people, including some four
or five people in a group, crossing the bridge at about 3:30
a.m., Miller said. A few minutes later, the light illuminating
the flag on the bridge's Brooklyn tower flickers and then goes
out. Soon after, the sequence repeats atop the Manhattan tower.
Construction workers arriving a couple of hours later discovered
the minimalist flags, which appeared to be commercially made and
measured about 20 feet by 11 feet (6 meters by 3 meters).
Investigators also found aluminum pans that had been affixed
over the flags' lights, Miller said, suggesting some careful
planning had gone into the effort.
Police are searching for the people behind the switch and no
arrests have been made. The towers' security gates were still
locked, suggesting the perpetrators were particularly agile and
may have construction experience, Miller said.
"We don't take these things lightly, or as a joke, or as art, or
within the realm of speech," Miller said, adding that the police
considered the flag-placing an act of trespass.
The bridge is seen as a prime target for acts of terrorism, and
is closely monitored by police. Miller said the department is
looking into whether it needs to increase the number of patrols
and cameras on the bridge.
In April, police arrested Brendan Fagan, a street artist who
goes by the alias of Judith Supine, after he clambered up the
Queensboro Bridge further up the East River at night and
installed an artwork.
(Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen and Natasja Sheriff;
Editing by Bill Trott and Eric Walsh)
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