NEW YORK — Police in New York have launched an investigation after a flagpole at a memorial honoring five firefighters who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was cut down by haters willing to vandalize something so sacred.
The damage at the patriotic display in Washingtonville, north of New York City, was discovered early Wednesday, according to the Times-Herald Record.
The flagpole at the monument was cut down, police say. (Google Maps)
Washingtonville Police Chief Brian Zaccaro told the news organization that those behind the vandalism used a tool to sever the flagpole about five feet from its base and then scrawled a message on the part left standing.
The Twitter account @NYCFirWire wrote, “The destroy everything & hate everyone culture has struck again last night as the Washingtonville NY Orange County 9/11 Memorial park was vandalized & AMERICAN FLAG CUT DOWN. These individuals obviously don’t know what sacrificing everything to save a fellow human being really is.”
Although law enforcement authorities did not disclose the message left by the haters, they said that an eagle figure attached to the flagpole was found next to a toppled sign at the St. Mary’s Parish Center about a half-mile away.
“These two locations mean so much to Washingtonville and the larger community,” New York State Assemblyman Colin Schmitt, whose district includes the area, said in a press release.
Washingtonville Mayor Joseph Bucco said the village will replace the damaged flagpole and a $3,000 reward is being offered for information about the incident and the suspects, the Times-Herald Record reported.
The memorial features a semi-circle of granite monuments honoring five members of the New York City Fire Department – firefighters Mark Whitford, Bobby Hamilton and Gerry Nevins, Batallion Chief Dennis Devlin and Lt. Glenn Perry, according to the newspaper.
