A flag donated to Vicksburg National Military Park by Mississippi State University to mark the 100th anniversary of the Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee statue has turned up missing, park officials said this morning.

Rangers discovered early Monday morning that the flag flown beside the statue since its donation this year by MSU president Dr. Mark Keenum was gone, and an investigation has ensued, VNMP chief of operations Rick Martin said.

“We’d like to get it back because of the historical significance,” Martin said, adding officials will pursue charges under the theft of federal property provisions before the U.S. Magistrate in Jackson. “We are investigating, and we will prosecute.”

The flag was a specially designed, maroon flag and was donated with the intention of returning it to the university once the anniversary observance ended, Martin said.

Lee was the youngest Confederate lieutenant general to serve in the Civil War and the first president of Mississippi State, then known as Mississippi A&M College. Lee also was the first superintendent of VNMP when it was established in 1899. Lee died in 1908, and the statue was erected a year later.

Martin said the flag’s disappearance coincides with the start of football season.

“There’s a possibility someone did this because there are rivalries within the state,” Martin said.

Theft of government property carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com