KAMLOOPS — City crews are planning a cleanup after a vandal targeted the Kamloops Memorial Hill cenotaph over the holidays.
The culprit scrawled the words “The native did lots,” “eagle” and “respect” on a panel listing the names of Kamloops residents who died serving in World War I.
“It’s hard to see because so much work has been put into the monument and the restoration project,” said Julia Cyr of the Kamloops Museum and Archives. “It’s a monument that’s really cared for and loved by the city. That’s why we’re keeping a good eye on it, and making sure that hopefully in the future we don’t see more graffiti.”
Cyr says the graffiti should be cleaned up shortly.
“Parks crews and the Kamloops Museum and Archives are on it, and we’re involved with the Graffiti Task Force. It should be taken care of in the next day or so.”
“It is a public monument. Anything in the city is vulnerable to graffiti. It’s unfortunate, but we’ll take care of it as soon as possible.”
Cyr notes the $100,000 project to restore the cenotaph and surrounding park space is nearing completion.
“The concrete base was repaired and the cenotaph’s masonry work was repaired. A new door has been placed on, and a lot of the iron work has been powder-coated so it doesn’t rust,” said Cyr.
“The four dials have been repaired from previous vandalism. A rock had been thrown through one of those dials so it broke. Now it won’t break in the future.”
“The last piece of this whole restoration project is the actual, physical clock working, which we anticipate shortly.”
