5 Mather House Flags Filched

Five replicas of medieval Florentine guild flags were stolen from the Mather House dining hall late Friday night, the president of the house committee, said yesterday.

The flags, which had hung from the ceiling of the dining hall, were discovered missing Saturday morning, said House Committee President Jimmy W. Lew '89. Vandals apparently tore down the flags, broke two soda machines, and dented a refrigerator in the kitchen. Sixteen other guild flags in the hall remained intact.

Senior Tutor Terry K. Shaller '72 said David and Patricia Herlihy, the former House Masters, commissioned the hand-made flags from Florentine artists and brought them back from Italy to hang in the dining hall.

Shaller said he did not know when the damage was done, but that he suspected it was before 3 a.m. because the dining hall closes at that time and the doors were not damaged. He said he did not know how to replace the flags. "The whole community here is quite angry about what happened," he said. "It's malicious and pointless."

"The flags definitely added to the character of Mather," said Robert D. Barnes '88-'89, the treasurer of the House Council. "It's hard for me to believe that any Mather student would do such a thing to his own house." He said there were no suspect in the theft.

Lew speculated that the vandalism might be connected to a large party held at Mather that evening. "With so many people and drinking going on, people become wilder than usual." The private party extended through 17 student suites in the house.

David Herlihy, who now teaches at Brown University, said he bought the flags for $4000 in 1982, and called the destruction "deplorable."

"I can see absolutely no provocation for such an act," he said. "It's a sad situation when damage such as that is done for no purpose." Herlihy said he had bought the flags to add "humanity, tradition, and history" to the dining hall.

Many students agreed that the flags have great sentimental value to the House. "They added a lot of life to the dining hall," said Mather resident AmosMeron '89. "I hope they'll be recovered."

"I liked the flags and I'm really sorry," saidTina L. Vanasse '88, a Mather resident. "I reallythink it's awful."

Last week vandals slashed a large televisionscreen in the Mather television lounge and severalchairs in the Junior Common Room, but Shaller saidhe did not see any connection between thatincident and the theft of the flags