NEW YORK (WABC) -- It's one thing for an American flag to fly torn and tattered in a war zone. It's another for it to fly tattered on the Brooklyn Bridge.
But that is what has happened. The flag on the iconic New York City span has been battered by this season's rough weather.
The ice and snow and wind have made it unsafe to repair it.
Our Old Glory atop the Brooklyn Bridge just can't seem to find any respect.
The stars and stripes are a tattered mess, ripped at the bottom and getting whipped around the pole.
Officials acknowledge the flag is a shredded mess. According to the DOT, which is responsible for the bridge, you can blame it on the wicked winter we're having. Fierce winds apparently ripped the flag.
And because of the same biting wind, coupled with snow and ice, it's just not safe for to send workers to the top to replace it.
Last summer, the flags fell victim to a pair of German artists who swapped the red white and blue for plain white flags. If it was meant as interpretive art, U.S. officials did not take it well.
Whether the vandals are artists or old man winter, officials acknowledge the American flag should not look like a rag.
But the DOT says their priority has been to keep the roads clear and safe. And they won't send crews to replace the flags until weather conditions settle down.