The NYPD is asking the public for help identifying one or more suspects after a flagpole at the Firemen’s Memorial Park was found cut down and vandalized with graffiti, authorities said.
Washingtonville Mayor Joseph Bucco said in a statement the flagpole was cut down by some type of saw. After the pole was cut, the vandals scrawled a message on the part left standing.
Residents of Washingtonville, a village north of New York City and the place of the incident, discovered the destroyed memorial early Wednesday and notified police, who have since launched an investigation.
“Our police department is in the process of collecting evidence, and I promise you they will not leave any stone unturned to find the person or people responsible for these [sic] damages,” Bucco said. “Please be assured that whoever is responsible will be prosecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law.”
Firemen’s Memorial Park was created to honor five New York City Fire Department officials, known as the “Washingtonville Five,” who died when they were called for service following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
“These individuals obviously don’t know what sacrificing everything to save a fellow human being really is,” a Twitter account called NYC FireWire wrote, adding several pictures of the vandalized memorial.
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
“[They] 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,” the post reads.
Police have not provided any additional information on the message that was sprayed in graffiti. Bucco said that an eagle figure attached to the flagpole was found next to a toppled sign at the St. Mary’s Parish Center, which is about a half-mile away from the memorial.
“The entrance sign to Saint Mary’s Parish Center was also destroyed and the eagle that stood on the Memorial Flagpole was seen at the Saint Mary’s Site,” the mayor wrote in the release. Both incidents are believed to be related, authorities said.
Bucco said authorities are currently looking for leads in the case and are offering a $3,000 reward.
Officials are urging anyone who can help lead to an arrest and conviction to contact the Washingtonville Police Department at 845-496-9123.