Faint tire marks now mar Patriots Path at Woodland Cemetery.

Saturday, February 16, 2002

Faint tire marks now mar Patriots Path at Woodland Cemetery.

Bill Ellis, a member of the committee that worked to build the veterans memorial at the cemetery, said the tire marks were discovered late last week.

Ellis said that it appears a vehicle drove onto Patriots Path and "drove up on our veterans." He added he was "pretty stunned" to discover the path vandalized.

"With what’s going on in the world," Ellis said he "thought people would be more conscientious" of the memorial honoring area veterans. He added that he thought people would have a "much higher opinion and respect for our service people."

"It’s a sad situation," he said.

Cemetery board member Jesse Roberts echoed Ellis’ comments, adding "if this act was done intentionally, then it shows the utmost disrespect to our veterans."

Roberts said the cemetery board may need to look into placing a barrier in order to reduce the risks of future vandalism.

Ellis said the tire marks were the only damage to the bricks. He said the structural integrity of the bricks and of the base held intact. Ellis said he attempted to scrub the tire marks from the bricks on Saturday using three or four commercially available products, but the scrubbing was to no avail – the tire tracks remain as a stain to the bricks.

Ellis said care is being used to remove the tire tracks but not damage the face of the bricks. A strong abrasive chemical agent could cause further damage to the affected bricks. Each brick contains the name of a veteran and other information, such as service dates. The names are etched into the brick and then painted with black paint. The brick is then baked drying the paint into the brick.

The memorial was officially dedicated on Veteran’s Day in November.