This is the shocking moment a yob brazenly ripped down a beauty salon's Pride flag in broad daylight.



The Secret Garden owners George Waterfield and Darren Cunningham say it's the second time their salon has been targeted in weeks.

CCTV shows the thug, dressed in all-black and riding an e-bike, stop outside the business in Leicester last Sunday (14/9) morning.

While cars and pedestrians passed by, the man clambers onto a window ledge to reach a flag pole around 10ft above the ground.

He then tears the rainbow-coloured flag down and hurls it on the ground before replacing the pole.

Footage then shows the thief bundling up the flag in his hands and shoving it in a bin on the opposite side of the road.



Owner George says the shop has been displaying LGBTQ+ flags since 2023 but this latest incident is one of six in just two years.



George, 30, said: "I think it's a very scary thing to approach someone like that, so I understand why people didn't."



"Luckily a member of the public spotted it and sent a message to us on social media. "

"He came specifically on the bike for the salon and chucked the flag in the bin across the road."



"I can't believe this kind of thing still happens. He's taken it down because of what that flag means, the symbolism behind it."



"I don't understand why people are targeting us and taking them down. "

"There are so many flags up at the minute and it doesn't enter my head to take down flags regardless of my views." "

It is the second time in a month the salon has had its pride flags taken down.

George added: "It is purely, 100 per cent targeted. As an openly gay man myself, it really hits home. I think it's really scary. "

"I am a very confident person, and for myself to say that I'm really scared by that - it's just really heartbreaking that it still happens in 2025. "

"We're a gender neutral salon and ever since then we've been flying the pride flag."



"We're not taking away people's gender, we're just charging you on the haircut."

"We're open to everybody - but when the people see the LGBTQ flag or they see the trans flag that we fly outside or hear that we're gender neutral, people think we're a gay salon and that's absolutely not the case. "

"It just shows that we're open to everybody and anybody for any gender or however you identify can come here. "

"We're not asking you what your sexuality is, we charge by the haircut not the gender." "

A Leicestershire Police spokesperson said: "The reports are being investigated as a hate crime."



"We take these incidents extremely seriously and are in the process of investigating the incidents."