Updated

A longtime military mother in Arizona is very upset after she said somebody shredded the American flag hanging in front of her home.

Mary Eklund, who says she has 16 family members who've served the United States, saw the desecration when they came home from dinner Tuesday evening.

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“My whole family has always had a lot of respect for the military, putting a flag up represents that,” Eklund told 3TV/CBS 5.

Eklund doesn't know for sure who shredded the flag, but she suspects it may have been an aggressive solicitor who came by earlier that day and didn't take rejection very well.

“He literally banged on the door. We still didn’t answer and he left,” said Eklund.

Despite being angry over the incident, Eklund plans to put up a new flag in front of her house. She'll also give a new use to the now-shredded flag -- by incorporating it into a quilt honoring America's veterans.

“Every one of these strands is like one of our people that’s fighting for our country and never making it home,” she said to 3TV/CBS 5.