Landmarks in the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, have once again been daubed with graffiti in an act of wanton vandalism.
The town’s 9/11 memorial was ‘desecrated by vandals’ on Sunday, according to the town’s fire department.
It’s the eighth time a site in the town has been tampered with in less than a week.
Firefighters repair a 9/11 memorial in Plymouth, Massachusetts after it was vandalized
The memorial was funded by Plymouth resident Dick Quintal who had to taken out a second mortgage to fund the project. He was said to be ‘heartbroken’ at seeing the damage
The police officer statue had been knocked over but the firefighter was still standing
The town’s 9/11 memorial was ‘desecrated by vandals’ according to the town’s fire department
The memorial, which was constructed in 2004 is a six-foot high pillar of granite upon which the names of those killed in the attacks is engraved upon it
The memorial, which was constructed in 2004 is a six-foot high pillar of granite upon which the names of those killed in the attacks is engraved upon it.
On either side stand statues of a firefighter and police officer
‘They can knock us down, but we will always get back up even stronger,’ the fire department tweeted.
Some 25 firefighters came out to remove the offensive markings and restore the memorial and by Monday there were no signs that the memorial had ever been touched.
‘They can knock us down, but we will always get back up even stronger,’ the fire department tweeted
It’s the eighth time a site in the town has been tampered with in less than a week
It’s not clear who was behind the act of vandalism but it has upset the town’s residents
Some 25 firefighters came out to remove the offensive markings and restore the memorial and by Monday there were no signs that the memorial had ever been interfered with
Vandals hit Plymouth Rock and other landmarks last week. The vandalism comes as Plymouth prepares to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims arriving on the Mayflower
‘What the vandals are doing is heinous,’ Plymouth’s Town Manager Melissa Arrighi told CNN. ‘Between the 9/11 memorial and Plymouth Rock, there is no excuse and there is no reason for this.’
‘Our firefighters jumped to action almost immediately,’ Arrighi said. ‘When something bad occurs, the residents and community jump in.
‘I can’t thank everybody enough for the outpouring of concern, outrage, support and offers to help,’ she continued.
The memorial was funded by Plymouth resident Dick Quintal who had to taken out a second mortgage to fund the project.
‘At first I was angry, then I was heartbroken and sad,’ Quintal told WCVB.
Another monument at the site is seen above after it was vandalized last week. The number 508 is the Plymouth area code phone number
Vandals also defaced a seashell-shaped sign celebrating the upcoming 400th anniversary of the 1620 Mayflower landing
Last week, more than half-a-dozen other iconic landmarks in Plymouth, including Plymouth Rock, were defaced.
The rock, Pilgrim Maiden Statue and a Monument to the Forefathers had all been splattered with red paint and words of various kind, although that vandalism has also since been removed.
Plymouth police say they are looking into the incident but have so far not made any arrests according to ABC News. It’s also not known if the attacks are related.
Department of Conservation and Recreation spokesman Bill Hickey says it’s not uncommon for the landmark to be vandalized.
‘This kind of thing happens two to five times a year. It’s just the nature of where it is,’ he said.
The above image shows graffiti spray-painted on the National Monument to the Forefathers, a 120-year-old statue that commemorates the Mayflower Pilgrims
The rock sits in Pilgrim Memorial State Park on the waterfront in an isolated area. It is a small piece of a larger rock that once stood in the place where the Pilgrims landed.
The rock has come to symbolize the spot where William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims disembarked before founding Plymouth Colony in December 1620.
Police said the vandals also targeted a seashell-shaped sign celebrating the upcoming 400th anniversary of the 1620 Mayflower landing, the Pilgrim Maiden statue and the National Monument To The Forefathers.
United American Indians of New England holds the solemn remembrance on every Thanksgiving Day since 1970 there to recall what organizers describe as ‘the genocide of millions of native people, the theft of native lands and the relentless assault on native culture.
Vandals also defaced a seashell-shaped sign celebrating the upcoming 400th anniversary of the 1620 Mayflower landing, left. Vandals also spray-painted graffiti on The Pilgrim Maiden, a bronze statue erected in 1922 in honor of the women of Plymouth’s founding families