ROSLINDALE — The Pride flag that once waved outside a beloved neighborhood market was found ripped down, mangled, and tossed in an alley — a quiet act of vandalism that’s left residents asking who did it, and why.

Kelly Walsh, owner of Russ & Mimi’s Gourmet Foods Market, arrived at her Poplar Street shop on October 4 to a gut-punch sight: the rainbow flag that had hung proudly above her storefront was gone. The metal brackets were torn from the wall, the anchors wrenched clean out — the kind of damage that doesn’t happen by accident.

The next day, someone found the flag dumped in a nearby alley. “I can’t believe this happened here,” Walsh told The Boston Globe. “This is not the neighborhood where I expect something like this to happen.”

It’s not the first time Boston’s Pride flags have been targeted. In recent months, banners have been burned, torn down, or defaced in West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and now Roslindale — quiet hits against one of the city’s most visible symbols of inclusion.

Neighbors were quick to rally behind Walsh, flooding local Facebook groups with messages of support. By Sunday, her shop had unexpected visitors — Mayor Michelle Wu and Councilor Enrique Pepén — who stopped by during the Roslindale Day Parade to show solidarity. “There’s no place for hate in Roslindale, or anywhere in our city,” Pepén said in an Instagram post.

But for many locals, the visit only underscored how something as simple as flying a flag has become a flashpoint. “Roslindale is a community built on love, respect, and unity,” Pepén added. “We stand with Russ and Mimi, and with our LGBTQ+ neighbors, today and every day.”

For Walsh, the flag will fly again — though the metal pole outside her store tells a different story: that even in one of Boston’s most welcoming corners, not everyone shares the same pride.