Tattered government-owned American flag to be repaired

MIAMI (WSVN) -- An American flag left red, white, and battered will finally be repaired, assures the government agency that owns it.

The condition of Old Glory in Downtown Miami is being called unpatriotic. Many complained it should have come down long ago. "It's kinda sad," said a passerby. "They should just take it down or have nothing at all or put a nice one there. It's supposed to be representative of our country."

The flag belongs to the Florida Department of Transportation. They said the flag was damaged during high winds as Hurricane Sandy passed by a couple of weeks ago.

They released this statement on Friday: "We have not been able to replace the flag because the lowering mechanism got damaged, and we are currently in the process of replacing it."

Barbara Dabney of the Freedom Flag and Banner Company explained, the US flag is expected to be taken down every three months for maintenance or repairs at businesses like hers. "If you catch it in time, like this person did, they bring it back in here, and obviously it has frayed edges, it's a little tattered, but if you catch it in time, you can obviously cut off the bad section and re-hem it."

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