UPDATE: (3:30 p.m.) Flags turned into NUPD by unidentified person, Professor says they will be reinstalled. 

By Taylor Dobbs, News Staff

The controversial flags hung from the lobby ceiling in International Village as part of Northeastern Professor Thomas Starr’s “Exploded View” art piece were reported stolen Friday morning.

Northeastern Director of Communications Renata Nyul said Friday afternoon in an email to The News an unidentified person, claiming to have found the flags, turned them in.

Starr said he picked them up Friday afternoon from the Northeastern University Division of Public Safety (NUPD) office. He said they will be reinstalled, but he does not yet know when.

The specially ordered flags – one which featured only the stars and blue background of the American flag, the other only the red and white stripes – were intended to be the centerpiece to the gallery “We the Designers,” a collection of political art hung on the walls of the first two floors of International Village.

“Exploded View” drew criticism from students and organizations. Northeastern University College Republicans (NUCR) President this week called for their removal.

“NUCR finds the news of the stolen art extremely disturbing,” NUCR President Eric Armbruster said Friday in an email. “It was disrespectful and NUCR does not condone breaking the law.”

Starr said in an email to The News Friday that he had reported to campus police that the flags as well as a number of balloons with the word “Hope” printed on them which had been floating on the ceiling, also part of the exhibit, had been stolen.

Northeastern University College Democrats called for bi-partisanship in finding the suspect who stole the flags.

“NU College Democrats condemns the theft of the flags in International Village,” Nicholas Beek, the group’s vice president, said in an email to The News. “This is a crime aimed at suppressing freedom of expression. We hope that our friends across the aisle, NU College Republicans, will join us in denouncing this act and cooperating with Northeastern University Police in order to help find the culprit.”

Nyul said NUPD and the Department of Housing and Residential Life are still investigating.