The mayor of St. John's is furious after vandals sprayed graffiti on The Fighting Newfoundlander monument in a well-known public park.
22/07/2008 4:31:21 PM
This war memorial, The Fighting Newfoundlander, was vandalised with graffitti.
(City of St. John's)
CBC News
Vandals painted the words "stupid Newfies" on the monument as well as a stone gate marker in Bowring Park over the weekend. The words have since been removed.
Mayor Dennis O'Keefe is angry that anyone would mark up such an important symbol - the monument was unveiled in September 1922 as a tribute to Newfoundlanders who had served in the First World War.
"It is simply mystifying why any individual would put that kind of offensive language on a statue that means so much to everybody in Newfoundland and Labrador. I classify this as more than graffiti, it's more in the manner of hatred than anything else," he said.
O'Keefe said the city hired two companies to remove the graffiti, but the shadow of the words is still visible.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary is investigating.
When the incident was first reported to the media on Monday, police wouldn't say which monument was hit or release pictures to the media as they had in the past.
"We find these people who are doing this are looking for attention. And by getting the media involved right away and showing what they are doing, it only feeds to their ego. So we don't see the need to feed their ego," said RNC Const. Steve Knight.
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