BRANTFORD -- A Brantford memorial honouring those who served in the war has been vandalized.
“It really is abysmal that someone would do this,” said Brantford Coun. Dan McCreary.
City staff say six bronze torches were stolen from the Brant County War Memorial. The theft was discovered this week during a routine check-in.
“Vandalizing a monument that honours veterans is an insult,” said Sara Munroe, the city’s manager of tourism, culture, and sport. “To trade all of the sacrifices that they made for mere dollars at a scrap yard, disrespects everything they did for us."
Staff say two of the torches have been recovered from a local scrapyard. One of the torches is in good shape and the other is damaged.
“I’m pretty upset and disgusted,” said Scott Clare, the former chair of the Brant County War Memorials Committee.
Brantford Police are investigating the theft and say no arrests have been made.
City staff say they believe the theft happened at some point in February and so far there is at least one suspect in the investigation.
The city says another person tried to get payment at a local recycling facility for a third torch, which was chopped up into pieces, but that transaction was declined.
The Brant County War Memorial has been in Brantford since 1933.
“This really lies at the heart of this community, it’s designed by Walter Allward, he’s also the sculptor and artist that did the Vimy Memorial in France,” said McCreary.
Clare said the six torches were added on July 2, 1956.
The memorial honours veterans year-round and is the focal point for the city’s annual Remembrance Day ceremony.
“Brantford is going to be out thousands and thousands of dollars to make this right,” said McCreary.
The city says they are hoping the remaining torches are located, but as a worst case scenario, efforts are underway to fix the recovered torches and replace those remaining in time for Remembrance Day.
