Memorial vandalism was awful insult

The word “senseless” doesn’t seem strong enough to describe the vandalism last week to Minot’s new Medal of Honor Memorial in Roosevelt Park.

But how else to describe the spray-painting of a memorial designed to honor North Dakotans who paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom in extraordinarily brave ways.

Surely “mindless” would also be appropriate, for the vandal clearly had no thought for the dignity of the deceased, nor the society that benefited from the human sacrifice, nor the love displayed by local people who planned and paid for the display.

There is, at present, a $1,000 reward on the table for information that leads to the arrest of the vandal.

At the risk of giving this criminal more ink — his desired “reward” no doubt — than we already have, there is one more word that comes to mind, “tragic.” It is tragic that the act was perpetrated, and the guilty party himself obviously lives a tragic life, one devoid of compassion, sense of community, love of country — and apparently, any artistic ability.

Tags: minot, vandalism, memorial, medal, honor