Monument to War Veterans in San Jose Vandalized
SAN JOSE (KPIX) -- Mike Salas is upset after hearing that a vandal sprayed graffiti the San Jose Veterans Memorial early Monday morning.
Not just because he's a war veteran himself but also because he knows what it's like to have a war monument defaced.
Last August, someone used white spray paint to deface the "Sons of San Jose" monument in downtown San Jose.
Salas, a board director for the San Jose Vietnam War Memorial Foundation, helped build the memorial dedicated to Vietnam war veterans from San Jose.
"We were hit hard in the heart," he said. "It's become one of those sacred places where a lot of families go for closure and that's why we built it -- for those families."
Now San Jose police are searching for the suspect in Monday's vandalism which is believed to have happened around 12:20 a.m.
"Anybody with a pulse would have never touched the memorial," said Salas. "My immediate thoughts are with the families who went to foreign lands and shed their blood and they never came home, you know, I mean anybody with a heart would have never touched a memorial like that."
The vandal may have left behind a major clue to his or her identity by spray painting their moniker "Snip."
The suspect may have left behind their mark but Salas isn't letting them get the last word.
"They've got to be ignorant, they're ignorant people that don't realize that those that they harmed are the courageous ones, the ones that went to war for them," Salas said.
The graffiti has since been cleaned up by city crews but a glass panel remains shattered and covered with plywood.
