UPDATE: 4:14 p.m. - Officials with Family Dollar say that U.S. Flags headed to the trash will be donated.
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Syracuse, N.Y. - U.S. Flags that haven't been sold at Central New York Family Dollar stores are doomed for destruction.
Family Dollar is directing their stores to destroy their unsold U.S. Flags and throw them in the trash. It is confirmed to be the case in two of the 14 stores here in Onondaga County.
"It feels like a slap in the face," says James McCandless, a U.S. Army veteran, who discovered the problem when the Shop City and Butternut Street stores refused to sell him a flag. "I mentioned to the manager you don't even throw a tattered flag in the garbage. She said 'I just gotta do what I'm told to do.'"
Employees indicated that whenever they have a product that is unsold and is heavily discounted they are supposed to throw it out no matter what it is.
Corporate officials with Family Dollar have not commented on the matter. Updated information: Officials with Family Dollar say that U.S. Flags headed to the trash will be donated.