ALAMEDA -- Sometime between Thursday night and and Friday morning, thieves made off with American Flags and four military style rifles from The American Legion. The rifles are used in ceremonies to honor fallen soldiers, and the veterans at American Legion Post 117 want them back. KTVU has the exclusive story.

At least twice a week John Fee and other veterans from American Legion Post 117 form an honor guard at funerals for other veterans. According to tradition they fire rounds from their M-1 Gerand rifles.

Thursday night, in preparation for a funeral, the rifles were stored in the trunk of Joe Williams' green Cadillac outside his Alameda home. Friday morning the rifles and several American flags were gone.

"They stole our national colors and all our service flags. The weapons are modified to only fire blanks but they're still a very scary weapon."

The weapons are nearly 60 years old and were used by infantry soldiers in World War II and Korea. They're valued at about $1500 each and may be prized by a collector, but John Fee says if anyone tries to use live ammo, they're in for an unpleasant surprise.

"If a kid or somebody that doesn't know what he's doing goes down to the firearms store or whatever and buys live rounds and he's dumb enough to fire it in this rifle it's, gonna blow up in his face."

Friday morning, Alameda police dusted the car for fingerprints and canvassed the neighborhood for clues.

The Alameda Police Dept. officer says they'll be looking in places where someone is likely to go with this type of property. They will be looking on various websites like Ebay or Craigslist, looking at pawn shops and other places where these items might turn up."

The vets at Post 117 are worried about four weapons falling into the hands of thieves and they're heartbroken that thieves had the gall to make off with their ceremonial flags right before Memorial Day.

The veterans are hoping the rifles and the flags will be returned in time for their annual Memorial Day service Monday at 11:00 am.

Police say if the bandits have a change of heart they can anonymously secure the weapons and call police with their whereabouts.