AURORA, Colo. – Police are investigating damage at the Colorado Freedom Memorial in Aurora that the memorial's creator believes is vandalism.
One of the memorial’s glass panels that list the names of Coloradans killed or missing in action was shattered sometime over the weekend. The panel did not yet have any names on it, however.
In a Facebook post Monday morning, Rick Crandall, president of the memorial’s board of directors, said he discovered the damage when he arrived to do some sprucing up ahead of the 4th of July.
"Sadly, it had been damaged and my heart, I swear, it stopped. I couldn't believe what I was seeing," Crandall said.
Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., who represents Aurora, sent a statement out Monday afternoon saying he would help replace the memorial’s broken panes.
“As a Marine Corps combat veteran, who represents Aurora in the U.S. House of Representatives, I’m deeply saddened by the act of vandalism that shattered a glass panel at the Freedom Memorial. The glass panel displayed the names of the fallen from Colorado and I will help lead an effort to replace the panel,” Coffman said.
Crandall said the memorial has insurance but it likely won’t be enough to cover the approximately $55,000 it will cost to replace the glass.
Anyone interested in helping pay for replacement costs by going to their website or visiting this GoFundMe page.
Aurora police said they are investigating the circumstance surrounding the damage. Anyone with information on this case should call Detective Eric White at 303-739-6011.
