FALL RIVER, Mass. (WPRI) — Police have arrested two teenagers accused of vandalizing a World War II monument in a Fall River park late last month.
Detective Sgt. Moses Pereira confirmed that two 17-year-old boys have been charged with vandalism. Investigators are still working to identify the others involved.
Pereira said the teens were seen on surveillance footage defacing the Iwo Jima Memorial in Veterans Memorial Bicentennial Park with yellow spray paint.
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Pereira said the monument, as well as a brass plaque and granite base located elsewhere in the park, were found covered in phallic symbols and graffiti. The plaque, which commemorates the nation’s 200th birthday, appears to have the word “losers” spray painted on it.
The monument is a replica of the original Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery. It depicts several U.S. Marines raising the American flag during the battle on Iwo Jima, a Pacific island that was the backdrop of a bloody month-long battle in early 1945.