Politics & Government
Reward for Veterans Memorial Vandal Reaches $30,000
The Los Angeles City Council today raised to $30,000 the reward for help catching the vandal who destroyed a veterans memorial in Venice.
Photo credit: Jeff Nguyen/KCAL9
VENICE, CA - The Los Angeles City Council today approved a $10,000 reward, on top of $20,000 previously offered by county supervisors, in hopes of identifying whoever defaced a Venice veterans memorial on Memorial Day weekend.
The mural is dedicated to POWs and troops missing in action during the Vietnam War, with the vandalism occurring just as the nation was getting ready to observe Memorial Day in honor of fallen soldiers.
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On May 28 or 29, vandals sprayed a thick sheen of silver paint over most of the 2,273 names of Vietnam veterans on the memorial, which is on the side of a building at Metro's bus yard on Pacific Avenue near Sunset Court.
Painted in the early 1990s, the mural has a message at the top reading "You Are Not Forgotten" and bears the names of the soldiers counted as prisoners of war or missing in action in Vietnam.
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City Councilman Mike Bonin, who proposed the city's $10,000 reward, has said getting rid of the defacement will not be easy.
"The mural, which is several decades old, had no protective anti- graffiti coating, so removal of the vandals' paint could destroy the mural itself," he said last week.
The mural's artist, Peter Stewart, is deceased, so any photos of the mural that members of the public can provide will be needed to help with the restoration, Bonin said.
Bonin said the Venice-based mural and arts nonprofit SPARC will determine the best way to save and restore the mural.
Supervisor Michael Antonovich, who co-authored the county reward motion with Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, said last week that the vandalism was a "disgusting display of disrespect" to "those individuals who sacrificed for our country and a slap in the face to their still grieving families."
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Transit Policing Division is leading the investigation. Any tips can be reported to the agency by calling the on- duty watch commander at (323) 563-5000 or (888) 950-7233, or by calling Bonin's office at (310) 575-8461.
City News Service