Updated

A U.S. veteran in Florida is facing a criminal charge after he removed a tattered American flag from a local business, MyFoxOrlando.com reports.

Karl Baldner will head to court this month to face petty larceny charges for removing the damaged flag from a local business last summer, according to the station.

Baldner, who served a decade in the U.S. Army, said he saw an American flag – more than 50 percent of it missing – hanging over a local real estate business last August.

The business owner, John Granfield, reportedly told police that Baldner "stormed" into his office a month before he removed the flag, ordering Granfield to take it down.

Granfield said he told Baldner that the country was going through a "difficult time" and he felt as if the flag "accurately depicts our present situation," the station reports.

Baldner reportedly decided to file charges after he returned from a vacation to find the flag missing – with a note in its place that allegedly called Granfield a "disgrace to the nation."

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