June 16, 2016 was hard for Thomas and Bonnie Erskine. They laid their 31-year-old son Jesse to rest. The 2003 Boothbay Region High School graduate was a star Seahawk in basketball and football.

According to Bonnie, he was a bit of a Superman for the family, especially for his brother Justin, who always looked up to him. As a surprise for the family and for Justin in particular, Bonnie set up a flag with Superman’s insignia at the graveside six weeks ago to commemorate Jesse’s memory.

“I couldn’t wait for Justin and (everyone) to see it,” said Bonnie. “He dropped a Superman figure into Jesse’s grave at the funeral … because he really was Superman to him. I just thought it would be a nice surprise,” five years after they laid Jesse to rest.

Two weeks later, Bonnie discovered the flag was missing. The replacement flag disappeared weeks later and, finally, the third was discovered missing June 16, exactly five years after Jesse’s death. Bonnie said the work it takes to weave the flag onto the stake would make it impossible to blow away and each time she discovered the flag missing, the stake was still there. Having walked the cemetery and ruled out the few possible explanations, Bonnie and her family had to accept someone has been removing them.

“Whoever took the flags or knows who did should know this has been a part of our healing process. Because Jesse’s brother was always calling him his Superman, he was really Superman to all of us … Maybe someone liked (the flag) and said, ‘Oh, cool.’ I can kind of understand that, but two times? Three times?”

The Erskines ask whoever is removing the flags to stop and allow the family its grieving process. They are welcomed to put them back by the graveside or leave them in an obvious place for the Erskine family to find.