Police in Los Angeles are looking into a possible hate crime after a burned LGBTQ+ flag was found at a North Hollywood elementary school.

Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said the burned flag was inside a potted plant when both of the charred objects were discovered at Saticoy Elementary School on May 22. 

Police aren’t sure when the incident took place or who may have been responsible. 

“The investigation is ongoing. It is a vandalism hate crime. The hate crime is still significant, but it is a misdemeanor,” Chief Hamilton said Saturday.

Saticoy Elementary’s Pride Day assembly, scheduled for Friday, has been a point of contention with one group of parents, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

The parents are asking others to boycott the event because they don’t feel the Pride Day’s material is appropriate for the elementary students. For example, a reading from “The Great Big Book of Families” during the assembly will touch on families with LGBTQ+ parents.

Parents with the group are planning to hand out fliers at the event and encourage families to go home.

Despite opposing the Pride Day assembly, some parents said they would never go as far as burning an LGBTQ+ flag.

“None of us parents are aware of who the person might have been who set the flag on fire,” one parent who went by Ana told the Daily News. “None of us would jump the fence or set the flag on fire because we don’t want to bring that negativity to the school where our children are.”

Renato Lira, the director of the San Fernando Valley LGBTQ Center, told the Daily News that police will be at the event Friday.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.