Banbury resident shocked to find EU flag on front door burnt

A Banbury resident says she is shocked after an EU flag in the wreath on her front door was burnt - with fears it could have caused an even bigger fire.
Tahani Barakat's EU flag in the wreath on her front door was torchedTahani Barakat's EU flag in the wreath on her front door was torched
Tahani Barakat's EU flag in the wreath on her front door was torched

Tahani Barakat believes the vandals set fire to the flag outside her home on Queens Road on Sunday night and is adamant that anti-EU sentiment is behind it.

"When I saw it I was just shocked and dumbfounded that someone had actually walked up to our front door and set fire to it," she said.

"When that feeling passed I just remember being slightly p****d off and thinking it was dangerous seeing as it is a now dry wreath, hanging on a wooden door!

"It’s just so sad that this is what it has come to. I know Brexit has polarised the UK and that people on the extremes have become more emboldened in aggressive and anti social behaviour, verbal or otherwise, when it comes to the EU and people’s opinions about it, but I never for a moment thought that I would see it first hand, and on one of Banbury’s most close knit streets.

"It might have been some drunken idiots but the way things are at the moment it’s hard to believe that anti-EU sentiment wasn’t behind it."

Ms Barakat vented her anger on Twitter and received a number of supportive messages criticising anyone who would do such a thing.

She added: "My secret santa gift from a colleague at work was a Brexit survival kit but it didn’t come with a fire extinguisher!

"This just makes me want to hang a bigger and better - fire-retardant - EU flag from my bedroom window."