Sometime between the weekend and now, a mysterious hand removed battle flags from the base of the Confederate monument on Mathews Court Green, leaving only the national flag of the Confederate States of America flying there.

Apparently that unknown person took away the battle flags from a desire not to cause offense or hurt to any fellow citizen. We hope so. That the national flag was left bespeaks an understandable pride in ancestors who may have given their lives in the war, now 150 years behind us.

Shocking events elsewhere in the nation certainly caused a ripple effect here. We are so thankful that the innate kindness of our fellow citizens caused this mysterious hand to reach out and smooth them.  ...