An American flag flies over Tambrands.

“The new flag came in today,” said Rick Malinowski, the employee relations manager for the Auburn manufacturer, on Tuesday. The flagpole, however, was bare for several weeks.

“Our (old) flag was torn. We had taken it to the American Legion and had it destroyed,” he explained.

Old Glory was not, contrary to an assertion made to the Sun Journal, removed due to complaints by Somali employees of Tambrands who felt the flag was offensive, and demanded a Somalian flag be flown alongside.

“We never received this complaint,” Malinowski said. We didn’t imagine he did.

Tambrands’ flag is simply the latest misguided myth making its rounds around Lewiston-Auburn regarding the Somali community. It’s based on fact – a missing flag – but then sent through the grinder of stereotype to emerge with a errant, irrational conclusion.

The Somalis must have made them take it down. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

This notion relies upon the assumption Tambrands would acquiesce to this demand, and the belief that Somali employees would make this complaint, and consider the American flag “offensive.”

Farfetched is an understatement to describe these assertions. They are unbelievable, and while proof of their truth is invisible, the evidence of their fiction is undeniable.

It’s proudly flying – all red, white and blue, stripes and stars – from the flagpole outside Tambrands.