Thursday, December 21, 2017

Walk of Heroes VANDALIZED!

VANDAL:  

noun
  1. 1.
    a person who deliberately destroys or damages public or private property.
    "the rear window of the car was smashed by vandals"
    synonyms:hoodlum, barbarian, thug, hooligan, delinquent, despoiler, desecrator, saboteur
    "vandals defaced the front steps of the church"




Walk of Heroes Veteran's War Memorial is a veteran's park in Rockdale County in Georgia.  It is a place of great natural beauty and this site was chosen as a park to honor all veterans.  My husband took a few photos of the bronze statues the last time we were there, which was on Nov. 11th, Veteran's Day.  The five statues holding up the world represent the five branches of the Armed Forces, the US Marine Corps, the US Army, the US Navy, and the US Coast Guard.  This past week, vandals broke into the park and stole the globe, two of the statues and also, a plaque.   The thugs left behind their tools that were used in the theft along with broken debris from their destruction. Of course, the police believe that it had to be a group of men due to the weight of the objects.  
It is absolutely sickening to think on this.  This park is considered a crown jewel of the county and rightly so.  This kind of thing is something that I just cannot understand at all.  It is thought that they will try to sell these objects for scrap.  Could they not have taken a look at them and thought..."Wait, maybe we shouldn't do this."   Could they not looked around and realized how very special a place this is for so many people and thought, "Hey, this is not right, this is almost like stealing from a graveyard."
No, I suppose someone who would steal something like this would not have thoughts like this.  I hope that if they try to have them melted down, that they will be turned in. 

 I will let you know how this turns out!  Fingers crossed that the vandals will be caught and the globe, the two statues and the plaque will be returned. Rockdale County wants it all back!

They even managed to damage those beautiful words on the wall there behind the statue.  It is from the Bible, from the Book of John, I am sure you know it, John 15:13...

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends". 

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14 comments:

  1. PatriciaDecember 21, 2017 at 7:24 PM

    So sad to read this; so often in today's world there is a total lack of respect. I hope the culprits are found soon.

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  2. blueskyscotlandDecember 21, 2017 at 7:43 PM

    Sadly, it's happening in many countries. Metal thieves here have stolen famous sculptures, poles, electricity cables running into substations, anything that can be sold in fact. Probably get a few hundred for it melted down but it costs up to a million to repair and replace.

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  3. messymimiDecember 21, 2017 at 8:07 PM

    It is heartbreaking.

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  4. John MDecember 21, 2017 at 8:28 PM

    People can be so selfish and cruel.

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  5. Emma SpringfieldDecember 21, 2017 at 9:13 PM

    Cruel, disrespectful, UnAmerican, stupid, savage, evil. Those are the first words in my mind. It takes a truly ignorant person to ravage a war memorial. May they suffer the greatest of indignities for their actions.

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  6. handmade by amaliaDecember 21, 2017 at 11:15 PM

    An utter disgrace. Do let us know what happens.
    Amalia
    xo

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  7. Debra She Who SeeksDecember 21, 2017 at 11:47 PM

    We've had trouble with metal thieves stealing war memorial plaques and other things too. Especially vintage ones.

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  8. LibrarianDecember 22, 2017 at 2:56 AM

    Like you, I completely NOT understand how anyone can vandalise anything at all. If it is not your own property, you simply have no right to do anything to it, full stop. No matter whether you like the statue/monument/wall/building in question or not.
    Here in Ludwigsburg, I often walk past a beautiful mural painting in a subway footpath. Every now and then, sprayers vandalise it, and it saddens and upsets me every time because of the attitude that I assume lays behind such acts of destruction. So far, the city always makes sure the spray paint is removed or painted over, but if it keeps going, I don't know whether they will not at some stage give up - I hope not!

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  9. Thickethouse.wordpressDecember 22, 2017 at 8:38 AM

    Heartbreaking to think about....And I know that people steal from cemeteries for the scrap metal. These people are beneath contempt, though they must be terribly desperate to do such things. It makes me feel ill.

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  10. I'm mostly known as 'MA'December 22, 2017 at 9:32 AM

    How terrible. Why anyone would want to do such a thing is beyond me. Hope they find the missing items and can repair it.

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  11. DUTADecember 22, 2017 at 1:12 PM

    "...almost like stealing from graveyards". Well, they do indeed steal from cemeteries: vases, candle-houses, flowers, benches, stone - you name it. They also vandalize the headstones. We live in a world where there's no authority, no fear, no shame - only empty words.

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  12. AdullamiteDecember 22, 2017 at 3:40 PM

    It is not uncommon for war memorials to be damaged and the items used for scrap.
    Hopefully someone catches them.

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  13. LucilleDecember 23, 2017 at 6:08 AM

    Yes here too a beautiful Barbara Hepworth culture stolen from our nearby park.
    We miss it terribly and wonder what became of it.

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  14. Beatrice P. BoydDecember 26, 2017 at 5:51 PM

    How outrageous that people would stoop to vandalizing a memorial set up to honor heroes. Only a group of cowards and much less would have done such a terrible and in my opinion unforgivable act. I too hope those involved will be apprehended and made to pay dearly for their actions. Please keep us posted.

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