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 vandals.
The damage at the patriotic display in Washingtonville, north of New York City, was discovered early Wednesday, according to the Times-Herald Record.
Washingtonville Police Chief Brian Zaccaro told the newspaper 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 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 pic.twitter.com/oUFdh3gWr2
— NYCFireWire (@NYCFireWire) July 8, 2020
Police would not disclose the nature of the message, but did reveal 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. – read more
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