Criminal charges will not be filed regarding the “Black Lives Matter” banner that was recently stolen from the Ecumenical Campus Ministries building, police say.

The banner was stolen from ECM, 1204 Oread Ave., on Saturday. Witnesses reported seeing several people at the scene who drove off in a a Jeep or SUV.

Wednesday morning, the banner was found back at the ECM, but not before one Lawrence man offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the thieves.

Lawrence Police Officer Drew Fennelly said investigators identified four men who were in the suspect vehicle at the time of the theft.

Around 8 p.m. Saturday, Fennelly said, the suspects arrived at ECM in a vehicle driven by a white man with one biracial man and two Asian men as passengers.

At the scene, the biracial man cut the banner down with a pair of scissors and the group left the scene, Fennelly said. They returned the banner Tuesday night.

“A representative of the church later confirmed the sign had been returned along with an apology note,” Fennelly said. “The sign was not damaged.”

Though the theft will be documented in a criminal report, ECM has requested that police not pursue criminal charges, Fennelly said.

The apology note was not disclosed, and further information on the theft was not immediately available.

I report on crime and courts for the Journal-World. I can be reached by email at cswanson@ljworld.com, by phone at (785) 832-7284 or on Twitter @Conrad_Swanson.