It really is a shame when people work hard to make the community a cleaner and more beautiful place to live, only to have that work vandalized or stolen.

That is exactly what happened this week to the folks at Kinder’s Insurance Agency. Employees entered Ironton In Blooms annual fall deco pot competition and had created a fun display with a pumpkin scarecrow version of Flo, the Progressive Insurance mascot.

The Flo Crow, as they call it, didn’t even last a week before someone plucked it from its planter.

Incidents like this may seem insignificant to some people, but crimes like this breed a kind of indifference that is devastating to small towns like Ironton.

Those who have been the victims of petty vandalism and theft know exactly what that means. Flowers are destroyed, decorations are taken and, sometimes, property damage is done, leaving city residents feeling as if their community pride was all for naught.

How many victims of these kinds of crimes will continue to beautify their yards, homes and businesses, just to have their work undermined again?

We hope all will continue to fight to make Ironton a beautiful place to live, but who could blame them if they choose not to?

To people who continually tear down the community, rather than build it up like the members of Ironton In Bloom, you should be ashamed of yourselves and we hope justice is served.