Free Republic

ABLAIN-SAINT-NAZAIRE, France (AFP) — Vandals desecrated 148 Muslim graves in France's biggest war cemetery, hanging a pig's head from one tombstone and daubing slogans insulting France's Muslim justice minister, officials said Sunday. President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed "profound outrage" at the "sordid" attack on the Muslim quarter of the Notre Dame de Lorette cemetery, near the northern town of Arras on Saturday night. He vowed that those responsible would be punished. The cemetery is France's biggest military graveyards and commemorates tens of thousands of victims of a series of long and bloody battles for control of northern France at the...

Vandals dumped a bucket of red paint on a downtown veterans memorial this morning, the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, in what police suspect was a symbolic act of protest. Passers-by spotted the blood-toned paint on the Anchorage Veterans Memorial, in the Delaney Park Strip off I Street, during the morning commute and reported it to police. The soldier's helmet was blood red, with the paint dripping down to the ground below. "There's a movement across the country, since it's the fifth anniversary of the war, to protest," police Lt. Paul Honeman said. Police say they are...

From WTNH, Channel 8 New Haven: Thief damages New Haven fountain Posted Mar. 18, 2008 6:02 AM New Haven (WTNH) _ A thief targeted the fountain on the New Haven Green and caused thousands of dollars in damage. Someone stole 32 bronze nozzles and eight bronze light fixtures from the fountain that sits across from city hall. Police think it has to do with the record-high value of scrap metal, the New Haven Register reported. The city thinks it will cost about $20,000 to repair the fountain, which is also a war memorial. http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=8031761

The GATHERING OF EAGLES, a patriotic organization whose goal is to publicly support our men and women in uniform, whether active duty or veteran, announces our whole hearted participation with the New Haven GUARDIAN ANGELS in an upcoming rally at the Vietnam and Korean War memorial The Vietnam and Korean War Memorial Walls in New Haven, CT have been desecrated on three separate occasions. It is believed to have been done by Illegal Alien gangs including - but not necessarily limited to - the MS-13 criminal gang organization due to the messages that were scrawled upon the face of these...

New Haven (WTNH) _ Veterans are outraged that a war memorial in New Haven has been vandalized. The Vietnam War Memorial at Long Wharf was spray painted with the threatening words "Kill whites MS 13." Seeing this just crushed the veterans we spoke to. The names on that wall that are covered in paint, are the names of those who fought and died for this country in the Vietnam War. Tonight, police are investigating whether this is the work of a violent street gang, but the veterans we spoke to, say whoever they are, aren't as tough as they might...

New Haven (WTNH) _ Veterans are outraged that a war memorial in New Haven has been vandalized. The Vietnam War Memorial at Long Wharf was spray painted with the threatening words "Kill whites MS 13." Seeing this just crushed the veterans we spoke to. The names on that wall that are covered in paint, are the names of those who fought and died for this country in the Vietnam War. Tonight, police are investigating whether this is the work of a violent street gang, but the veterans we spoke to, say whoever they are, aren't as tough as they might...

When she spotted yobs vandalising a war memorial garden, Julie Lake sprang into action. As the daughter of a Second World War RAF pilot – and granddaughter of one of the fallen in the 1914-18 war – she felt it was her duty to intervene. But, after giving the main culprit a talking- to and a 'cuff round the ear', she finds herself facing the prospect of being arrested for assault. Yesterday Mrs Lake accused police of failing to follow up her complaints about graffiti and other hooliganism in the memorial garden. "The memorial is a sacred place – it's...

Park Police Call Wall Substance Vandalism For Immediate Release September 17, 2007 Contacts: Lisa Gough, VVMF (202) 393-0090, ext.109 Bill Line, National Park Service (202) 619-7177 U.S. PARK POLICE RULES THAT SUBSTANCE LEFT AT THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL IS VANDALISM National Park Service Continues Cleanup Efforts Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Park Police ruled today that the oily substance spread on sections of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and on the paving stones was an act of vandalism. Park Police spokesman Sgt. Robert Lachance stressed that the investigation is ongoing and would not offer further comment. The National Park Service continues...

The unidentified substance that was found splashed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial earlier this month was the result of vandalism, the U.S. Park Police said today. Sgt. Robert Lachance, a spokesman for the Park Police, said the investigation into the incident is continuing, but the detective on the case had ruled it an act of vandalism. Lachance said he could provide no more details because the probe is still underway. The oily substance was first reported to police the evening of Sept. 7, National Park Service officials have said. Dark blotches were found along a stone curb at the base...

Here’s our video report on the wall’s defacement. Due to YouTube’s (lack of) clarity, it’s hard to see. But about two-thirds of the memorial was defaced along the bottom with some unknown chemical agent that soaked into the granite surface enough to discolor it. Several panels were evidently splashed with the same substance. The Park Police originally stated that the discoloration was the result of a “cleaning accident,” but now they’re saying that it was vandalism, and they’re investigating: The unidentified substance that was found splashed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial earlier this month was the result of vandalism, the...

This was first reported at FreeRepublic on Sunday, September 9 at 6:55 PM Pacific Time (3:55 PM Eastern), with follow-up posts here, here, and here.The incident took place on or some time prior to Friday, September 7. The original Freeper report, with plentiful pictures, states that: ..... It looks like the person who did this walked along The Wall with some type of container, perhaps hidden at their side so that they could squirt the oily substance without being caught in the act...... It is unknown who did this to The Wall, and apparently the US Park Police did...

Still images from video of the damage to The Vietnam Memorial Wall, filmed on Monday morning, September 10, 2007. This was two days after the National Park Service Spokesman told reporters that they discovered the damage and had begun an immediate cleanup. The lone security camera is located in a corner of the grass, closer to the Brothers statue than The Wall... The Brothers statue appeared OK... But there were numerous oily drips along the walkway around the statue. Sticker bushes around the Brothers statue proved a good security device, apparently... And an oily trail along the cobblestone between the...

tgslTakoma was up late putting Vietnam Memorial Wall (DC) Defaced Sept 7-8, 2007: PART 2 on youtube and asked that this be posted. Part 3 will show the vandalism to the Nurses Statue and the Brothers Statue. tgslTakoma also noticed on East Wall Panel 15E that it had multiple deep, long, vertical scratches/gouges. That will also be in Part 3

Last Friday a “light, oily substance” was sprayed on 50 to 60 feet of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall panels and paving stones in an act of apparent vandalism. All this week, Washington was consumed with the Iraq reports by Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker. This weekend, ANSWER and a number of other anti-war groups are planning big demonstrations in Washington. Some veterans groups are planning to parallel the demostrations with lines of volunteers blocking access to the Vietnam Wall and other memorials they believe may be targeted for defacment. The assumption that Friday’s discovery was an act...

The only local monument to a heroic flight attendant from San Francisco killed in the Sept. 11 attacks six years ago is a North Beach mural that vandals have defaced almost beyond recognition. Betty Ong, 45, who grew up in Chinatown and North Beach, was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane hijacked by the terrorists. Just minutes before the plane smashed into the World Trade Center, she quietly contacted authorities and gave a detailed description of the hijackers. Ong is one of several Chinatown natives depicted in a 200-foot-long, 7-foot-tall mural dedicated to Chinese contributions...

Sometime during the evening hours of September 8th, 2007, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. was defaced with a petroleum based acid liquid. The liberal media barely mentioned this outrageous vandalism. Most avoided the news completely. Not one Senator or Congressman has stood-up and demanded better security for the memory of these 58,249 killed during the Democrat war in Vietnam. Could it be guilt over their deaths, or guilt that a left-wing Democrat group organized this despicable act at yet another time in history when Democrats consider United States Military personnel little more than "Nazi storm troopers"? (quote...

(CNSNews.com) - As cleanup efforts continue in the removal of an oily substance from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., authorities are investigating how the substance got on the wall, but warned it is "premature" to label it vandalism. The wall was defaced sometime over the weekend when an oily substance was sprayed along the base of the granite monument. The black material appeared to stain the dark grey wall and tainted some of the more than 58,000 names engraved on it. National Park Service preservation and maintenance personnel have been working since Saturday to remove the substance, and...

The U.S. Park Police are investigating suspected vandalism at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Mall. Volunteers and National Park Service rangers on Saturday discovered a "light, oily" substance on the memorial's wall panels and the paving stones in front of it, Bill Line, a Park Service spokesman, said yesterday. The substance, which has not been identified, was spread over an area of about 50 to 60 feet, mostly on the paving stones, Mr. Line said. Maintenance and preservation staff were working to remove the substance with no permanent damage to the memorial. Mr. Line could not predict when the...

I slowly went from one end of The Wall to the other, videotaping all the way. I wanted those who have loved ones named on The Wall to know whether "their" panels were damaged. I also wanted the full extent of the damage to be documented. This is Part 1, showing the damage to the east side of The Wall. It will take me several more hours to get the second video up. Stay tuned... Vietnam Memorial Wall (DC) Defaced Sept 7-8, 2007: Part 1

Mrs. Trooprally called me this evening to tell me that she and her husband, as well as Concretebob, saw damage along almost the entire length of the Vietnam Memorial Wall. They found this damage this morning, when they walked through the area before participating in the September 11th Freedom Walk. Concretebob was told by a National Park Service employee that the damage was done on Friday night. There was no police report taken or written about the vandalism, apparently. And the damage was still very much there today. Here are a few of the photos that Mrs. Trooprally took this...

Northern Michigan's 9&10news.com (CBS TV affiliate) has the story: "Its the idea that somebody vandalizing something that means so much to so many, I have trouble understanding," an anguished Linda Fabian said while viewing a memorial to a fallen Marine from Mt. Pleasant, MI, that had been vandalized. When Lance Corporal Justin Ellsworth died in Iraq on November 13, 2004, Fabian got to work making sure Ellsworth and all the troops who put their lives on the line would not be forgotten. Fabian's own son served two tours in Iraq. "It wasn't about how big it was, it wasn't about...

BRUSSELS (EJP)--- The Brussels Jewish Memorial for Holocaust victims has been vandalized, in an attack described as "devastating" by the head of a Belgian Jewish association.

Three young men who found themselves at the centre of a national controversy after being photographed urinating on the National War Memorial on Canada Day have apologized to "veterans and all Canadians" for their actions that night. One of the men, a youth from Ottawa who cannot be identified by law, wrote in a letter that he did not realize he was violating a national monument and that he was "ignorant" in doing so. In the letter, obtained by the Citizen, the youth wrote in French, "I am sorry for my actions and their repercussions, and if I had known...

Vandals hit Gettysburg National Military Park overnight, damaging three Civil War monuments and stealing a 120-year-old sword. Park spokeswoman Katie Lawhon said the intruders pulled the top stone and sculpture off the 11th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Monument, which was dedicated on Oct. 8, 1885. They also stole a sword from that monument. Ms. Lawhon said this morning that the sword was taken from a sculpted arm attached to the monument. Park rangers hope the theft will help them solve the case. A healthy market exists for Civil War-era weapons, particularly from Gettysburg. Many collectors, though, are on the lookout for...

Police consider Muslim link to cemetery attack By Colin Randall in Paris (Filed: 03/08/2005) The headstones of 42 British soldiers who fell in combat in the First World War have been desecrated in what police in northern France believe may have been the work of Islamist attackers. Police and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission initially believed that the damage to the Albuera cemetery last Saturday in Bailleul-sir-Berthoult, near Arras, was caused by local vandals after a drunken night out. No slogans admitting responsibility or proclaiming any cause were found. ‘But the scale and nature of the attack are such that...

LILLE, France (AFP) - A cemetery in northern France holding the remains of British soldiers killed in World War I has been desecrated, with 42 headstones broken and one scorched by a Molotov cocktail, French police said. ADVERTISEMENT The vandalism occurred late last week in the Albuera cemetery in Bailleul-Sir-Berthoult, near Lille. The graveyard's visitors' book was also torched, police said Tuesday. No inscriptions were found. "Two or three broken headstones, that unfortunately happens sometimes. But 42 -- that's never occurred. Everybody is shocked," said a spokesman for Britain's Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Christopher Farrell. The military cemetery, which contains...

Vandals damaged the city's monument to Confederate soldiers by spraying black paint over the faces of statues representing four white rebel fighters. The damage was discovered during the weekend at the memorial, which consists of a 56-foot-tall granite pillar surrounded by four metal figures representing the navy, cavalry, infantry and artillery branches of the Confederate military. All are white. "I think the Civil War is still sensitive to a segment of the South," Nancy Perry, the city's museum director, said Tuesday. Police had made no arrests. A metal conservator could begin work to clean up the statues this weekend. The...

Police are investigating a racist attack on a Jewish cemetery in which 87 graves were desecrated. It is the 117th attack on the West Ham Jewish cemetery in east London in 15 years. Some of the graves had stood for 150 years but were pushed over or broken over the last 10 days. Others were daubed with graffiti, or sprayed with swastikas. The doors to a mausoleum building in the centre of the cemetery had been forced open and more swastikas sprayed on the outside. The damage was discovered by the caretaker of the cemetery in Buckingham Road, east London....

Ukraine apologizes to Russia for vandal destruction of Pushkin monument 23:08 KIEV, June 9 (RIA Novosti) - Advisor to the Ukrainian Culture and Tourism Minister Igor Pristavksky condemned the vandal destruction of the monument to the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin in Lvov (Western Ukraine). Unidentified vandals broke the monument made by local sculptor Kassel and unveiled in front of the Russian Cultural Center in Lvov on June 8. "I apologize to the great Russian nation for this vandalism," Pristavsky said adding that Pushkin was highly popular in Ukraine. "I am sorry to say this because I was born in...

METZ, France, May 11 (AFP) - Scores of tombstones were overturned in a Jewish cemetery at Sarreguemines in eastern France, local police said Wednesday. The profanation, in which about 65 of the 500 graves in the cemetery were knocked down and piled on top of one another, occurred between Sunday and Tuesday and was discovered by a municipal employee. The cover was lifted entirely off one of the graves. Police chief Alfred Bickel said a forensic unit was seeking fingerprints and other evidence at the scene. In addition, a swastika was carved at the entrance to a Christian cemetery nearby....

Vandal destroys a week-old King memorial Apr 10, 2005, 6:16 PM Outrage tonight after the destruction of a memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King. A granite monument to Dr. King is in pieces today. The victim of a 17-year-old vandal. What makes this even more unsettling is that the monument was unveiled just a week ago. "This is something that took 17 years to come to fruition and for it to be destroyed in seven days is just a horrible situation," said Lorraine Robinson, West Memphis City Council. West Memphis police have arrested a suspect and he confessed to destroying...

Vandals strike Forrest monument Apr 13, 2005, 11:02 PM Vandals spray painted a 4-letter word followed by the letters "K-K-K" on a monuimen to former Confederate Gerneral Nathan Bedford Forrest. It's the latest turn in an effort to change the names of confederate Mid-South parks. Gene Ingram says this isn't the first time the monument of Nathan Bedford Forrest has been vandalized. "The people that do these things they don't read they don't know they take the word of other people" said Ingram. Ingram is a relative of the general's wife, Mary Anne Montgomery who is buried inside the tomb...

(Indianapolis) – Police have made an arrest in the vandalism incident that shocked many city residents last month. On March 29th, a monument to Medal of Honor recipients that stands on the Canal Walk downtown was discovered to have been vandalized. Etched glass panes were smashed and covered in spray-painted graffiti. Police say they’ve arrested a suspect, Joshua M. Miner, 18, of Danville. Miner faces a charge of criminal mischief, a D felony. He surrendered Friday afternoon. Investigators believe the smashed glass and the graffiti occurred separately, and they are continuing to look into leads that may bring them to...

Indianapolis, March 30 - Wednesday seemed like a normal spring day at the Canal Walk. But for visitors to the Medal of Honor memorial, a dirty secret marred an otherwise beautiful place, where vandals did a lot of damage. Glass panels on the monument were smashed early Tuesday morning. Obscene words about President Bush and Gov. Daniels, along with peace symbols were spray-painted on canal walls. "I don't get it. I don't get it at all," said Tammy Hickman, a visitor. "It's really an indication of how morally bankrupt people are who were involved in this," said State Police Officer...

State police are trying to determine who vandalized a memorial and spray-painted walls along a canal at White River State Park downtown, RTV6 reported Tuesday. Two glass panels at a memorial to Medal of Honor recipients were broken. Someone also spray-painted obscene words about America, President Bush and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels under a bridge along the canal, RTV6 reported. The graffiti included spray-paintings of a peace symbol, a heart and an anarchy sign. The IPALCO Foundation, which pays for the upkeep of the memorial, offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrests of whoever caused the damage.

LONDON - Vandals have sprayed swastikas and other Nazi insignia on 15 gravestones at a Jewish cemetery in southern England, police said Wednesday. They said the anti-Semitic graffiti had appeared on the gravestones in Aldershot, Hampshire, over the past month. "This is about the lowest thing anybody can do," Police Constable Andy Gardiner of Hampshire police said. "Any sort of vandalism would be bad enough but to put symbols like these on Jewish graves is a despicable act." As well as swastikas, the vandals had sprayed SS on some of the graves - a reference to the Schutzstaffel, a paramilitary...

Vandals defiled a Jewish cemetery in St. Petersburg for the second time this year, scrawling swastikas and anti-Semitic graffiti on 30 graves and a synagogue, Jewish leaders said Friday. Mark Grubarg, head of St. Petersburg Jewish Community, called on police to do more to protect the cemetery, where people found "Jews Get Out of the Country!", "Long Live Holocaust!" and "Heil Hitler!" scrawled on the synagogue. Graves were covered with swastikas and Nazi SS signs. "This is the worst thing to defile something sacred, the history. And it's so low to fight the dead," Grubarg said. The cemetery was...

Nearly 100 graves were desecrated at a Jewish cemetery near the eastern city of Strasbourg, local authorities said on Saturday. The perpetrators daubed tombstones with anti-Semitic and Nazi inscriptions in black and blue paint in an attack that appeared to have taken place on Friday night at Brumath, 15 km north of Strasbourg, the local government prefect's office said. It was the third such attack in six months, and there have also been similar attacks on Muslim burial sites in the Alsace region that borders Germany. "Once again, what I have to say and say again are the same words...

A Jewish headstone at cemetery in New Zealand was desecrated overnight in yet another anti-Semitic incident in the Oceanic nation, one month after 16 graves were desecrated at a Jewish cemetery in Wellington, the New Zealand Herald has reported. "It was a substantial attack and even though it is a reinforced concrete structure, they've still managed to crack the monument and take several large chunks from it," said the Wanganui District Council's recreation and culture manager, Keith Hindson. While other headstones had been damaged in the past, this was the first incident at the Jewish section, he said. "It's the...

@#$%*!$ Animals Deface 9/11 Memorial A 9/11 memorial put together with RWAM's John Brown, University of Tennessee College Republicans and various others was vandalized on the morning of 9/11/04. John Brown writes on http://johnnbrown.blogspot.com/, "Apparently, some cowardly and despicable individuals snuck onto the amphitheater Wednesday night and removed all 3,000 flags. They moved them to Humanities Plaza (about 100 yards away) and replanted them, spelling out "The World Suffers." They also chalked various antiwar and anti-Bush slogans on the buildings and on the pavement - in direct violation of University rules. The Memorial Originally The "message?"

Remember the Vietnam War memorial that was vandalized the other day? Why does the idiot who has been arrested for the crime have a John Kerry sign hanging in his window? More Photos >>

Vandals spray-painted red swastikas and the initials "SS" on four family tombs with Jewish-sounding names in a cemetery in eastern France, police said Monday. The attack on the small cemetery in Audincourt probably took place late Saturday or early Sunday, police said. There was no immediate information on who might have been behind the vandalism. France, which has western Europe's largest populations of Jews and Muslims, has experienced a recent upsurge in anti-Semitic and anti-Arab attacks.

NEO-NAZIS have desecrated 50 Jewish gravestones in the city of Bochum, the latest in a series of attacks that suggest a revival of far-Right activity in Germany.Right-wing extremists have also been infiltrating the protest movement against Gerhard Schröder, the Chancellor, who was pelted with eggs and stones in the eastern German town of Wittenberge yesterday, and are exploiting the growing discontent of the less prosperous east. The cemetery attack coincided with clashes and acts of anti-Semitic vandalism across Germany to mark the anniversary of the death of Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy, who killed himself in prison in August 1987. Many...

France denounces desecration of Jewish cemetery Swastikas painted late Wednesday on 30 graves in cemetery near Strasbourg. Meanwhile, Sharon welcomes 200 immigrants from France. Maariv News Service, Eli Berdenshtein and Arik Bender Advertisement French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin has denounced the desecration of a Jewish cemetery near Strasbourg in the eastern part of the country late Wednesday. Vandals daubed swastikas on more than 30 graves at a Jewish cemetery in eastern France, court officials said Wednesday. Swastikas, Celtic crosses, stars, the number "666" - seen by some as a satanic inscription - and other unidentifiable symbols were scrawled across...

A Hermantown church's display of crosses didn't sit well Wednesday with an unidentified driver. Broken crosses littered the tire track-covered lawn of Gethsemane Covenant Church, 4479 Ugstad Road, on Thursday morning as volunteers surveyed damage to the "Cemetery of Innocence," a display of 400 three-foot crosses each representing 10 abortions. More than 80 of the white PVC pipe crosses were knocked down or damaged, and some will have to be replaced. Lives represented by the crosses equal the number of abortions performed each day, said Jim Tuttle, Duluth branch manager of St. Paul-based Pro-Life Action Ministries, the group that manages...

French politicians have condemned an apparently anti-Semitic attack on a woman in which a knife-wielding gang on a suburban train cut her hair, ripped her clothes and drew swastikas on her body. The attack on a 23-year-old who was with her 13-month-old baby involved six young men on Friday morning in front of other passengers on the train just north of Paris, authorities said. French media said the attackers appeared to have been north African and that the victim was not Jewish but the gang may have believed she was after taking her handbag and finding identity papers with an...

A Muslim cemetery and a village in eastern France were painted with Neo-Nazi slogans and swastikas over the weekend, prompting Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin to head to the region to speak with officials and religious representatives. More than 50 Muslim graves in a Strasbourg cemetery were covered with black swastikas and, in some cases, "HH" (for Heil Hitler) and the neo-Nazi characters "88", which refer to the letter H being the 8th letter in the alphabet. A wall nearby was inscribed with threats against the heads of the regional Muslim council and the regional assembly as well as the...

VANDALS daubed black swastikas and SS symbols on 14 graves at a Christian cemetery in eastern France, the second such incident at the graveyard in a month, police said today. The pro-Nazi markings were discovered early today at the cemetery in the Alsatian village of Niederhaslach. Similar graffiti was found on some 20 graves at the cemetery in early May. The incident in May came on the heels of the desecration of 127 graves at a Jewish cemetery in the same region, not far from the border with Germany. Vandals scrawled swastikas and sayings glorifying Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler on...

Vandals in the city of Verdun, in northern France, scrawled Nazi slogans and symbols on a memorial to Jewish soldiers who died in the World War I, Israel Radio reported Friday. The vandals drew swastikas and spray-painted the words 'Hiel Hitler' across the memorial. Last week, 127 tombstones were desecrated in a Jewish cemetery in France. Vandals spray-painted anti-Semitic phrases and swastikas in a Jewish cemetery in the western city of Herrlisheim-Hattstatt. French leaders responded to the desecration of graves with a wave of indignation. Anti-Semitic attacks have been on the rise in the country in the past three years.

STRASBOURG, France, May 2 (Reuters) - Vandals desecrated around 20 graves with Nazi slogans in a Roman Catholic cemetery near the French border with Germany, police said on Sunday, two days after a similar incident at a nearby Jewish cemetery. The two incidents appeared unrelated. Nazi swastikas daubed around the Catholic cemetery in the village of Niederhaslach, west of Strasbourg, were the wrong way around -- unlike those at the Jewish cemetery, where 127 graves were desecrated. "It doesn't look at all like we're dealing with the same sort of context," one policeman said, adding that the Niederhaslach incident could...