There are still no suspects after military monuments were vandalized this week in Barrie, but a representative from the Royal Canadian Legion hopes the culprit turns themselves in before a veteran finds out who they are.
The downtown cenotaph and a plaque at Military Heritage Park along the lakeshore were both damaged with black spray-paint over the last several days.
Over the weekend, a stone memorial honouring Victoria Cross recipients had a line of paint down the middle, through the recipients' names. It was also noticed on Tuesday that the cenotaph at Memorial Square on Dunlop Street East had two spots covered in the same fashion.
Barrie police communication co-ordinator Peter Leon called both acts of vandalism "disgusting" and added officers were doing their best to identify who may have done it, but it may takea little while longer.
“We are downloading footage from cameras located downtown and our tech people are on it,” he told BarrieToday. “I’ve been told it may take another day to finish that and start searching to see if the person, or persons, can be identified for these very disgusting acts.”
Earlier this month, posters at a military park in Angus depicting a fallen soldier from Oro-Medonte, Pte. Kevin McKay, were also scratched and will need to be replaced. The posters were located in Peacekeepers Park and cost about $160 each to replace.
Veteran Fern Taillefer, who serves as the first vice-president at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 147 in Barrie, told BarrieToday, he's still trying to understand why someone would do this to brave Canadians who served in the military.
“These are hallowed ground for many, many Canadians. I just can’t begin to imagine what is going through someone’s head when they do something like this,” he said. “In the Military Park vandalism, they marked up a stone honouring those who showed the highest form of bravery. That's something considering the people who did this are the lowest form of coward. They’re cowards, plain and simple.”
Taillefer wants the people or person responsible to be caught and learn from their mistakes.
“I’ll tell you honestly, I want them caught and I would like to educate them, make them understand why what they did is so bad. Make them appreciate and respect those who gave all for freedom," he said. "I ask that they turn themselves in to the police immediately, because they’re going to get caught and they won't want a veteran or someone who highly respects the sacrifices to do it.
"I don't condone that, but I know it's a possibility and I’d rather they were caught by police, felt shame for their act and educated.”
Taillefer said the spray-painted memorials will be marked up for a bit longer. He has been told they can’t be cleaned properly until the warmer weather arrives.
The posters in Angus, meanwhile, have to be replaced and Taillefer said more may be done to protect them.
“Those posters cost $160 to replace and once we do, we’ve spoken to the (Essa Township) mayor," he said. "There and there may be a plan to add lights and cameras to the area to hopefully prevent this from happening again."
