Officials in Paramount, a small city in southern Los Angeles County, are pleading for the public to help identify vandals who recently struck a solemn armed forces memorial outside City Hall.
“We are deeply saddened and troubled to report that the ‘Battlefield Cross and Soldier’ art piece at the Paramount Armed Forces Memorial at the Civic Center has been vandalized and pieces have been stolen,” the city shared in a social media post Wednesday.
The metal sculpture depicts a soldier honoring a fallen colleague, who is memorialized by a rifle stuck into the ground with a helmet on top — a traditional military symbol known as a Soldier’s Cross. It was unveiled in November 2024.
It appears the vandals made off with the bronze rifle and caused other damage to the memorial…