Crime & Safety

Vietnam Veterans Memorial In Boston Vandalized: State Police

Someone cut up a US flag, tore down the state flag and tossed it in the woods with trash and stole a POW-MIA flag, said police.

BOSTON, MA — An American flag was cut, a POW-MIA flag was stolen and a state flag was torn down from the Vietnam Veterans memorial in Boston and dumped in the woods with garbage atop it, according to State Police.

Troopers say a woman alerted them to the vandalism at the memorial on Morrissey Boulevard Thursday. After checking into it, police said it was apparent a vandal or vandals had damaged the memorial and the landscaping around it. In addition to the flag desecration, photos showed shrubbery damaged and that it appeared someone threw bricks at the memorial, leaving marks on the stone.

The Dorchester Monument was designed by Paul J. Shannon, a local artist who was a Vietnam vet himself and a native of Southie.

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It was built near the entrance to UMass Boston's Harbor Campus in the late 1980s. The memorial features the names of 79 Dorchester servicemen killed in action during the war.

Now police are asking for the public's help in finding information about the vandals. Police encourage anyone with information to call 617-740-7710

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Photos courtesy State Police

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