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Police said the flags were defaced with stickers that appear to reference the “Warhammer 40,000” game.

The Brookline Police Department said these flags were vandalized outside the Coolidge Corner branch of the Public Library of Brookline earlier this month. Brookline Police Department/Twitter

The Brookline Police Department’s Hate Crimes Unit is investigating after Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ+ pride flags were defaced at a local library earlier this month. 

The vandalism happened outside the Coolidge Corner branch of the Public Library of Brookline, located at 31 Pleasant St., police said on Twitter. While the incident occurred on either Dec. 3 or Dec. 4, the department said it didn’t learn of it until Tuesday. 

Police said the BLM and Progress Pride flags were defaced with stickers that appear to reference “Warhammer 40,000,” a game “whose imagery has been adopted by various groups to symbolize hate speech.” 

The stickers included the word “heresy” and the image of a two-headed imperial eagle, according to police. In the game, the eagle seal represents the Imperium of Man, a genocidal and fascist regime. 

In a post on its community page last year, the maker of the game, Games Workshop, said the Imperium — like many aspects of “Warhammer 40,000” — is satirical. 

“The Imperium is not an aspirational state, outside of the in-universe perspectives of those who are slaves to its systems,” the company said. “It’s a monstrous civilisation, and its monstrousness is plain for all to see.”

Games Workshop also denounced players who support prejudice, hatred, or abuse.

The Brookline Police Department asked the public for help gathering information on the vandalism, particularly footage from home security systems in the area. Anyone with information can contact the department’s detective division at 617-730-2244.

The town has seen similar vandalism in recent months; in August, a transgender pride flag was found burned at a Brookline church, also in Coolidge Corner. 



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