PLYMOUTH, Mass. — For Paul Provencher and his wife, September 11th opened a family gash that may never go away.
“My wife's cousin was one of only five people in the Pentagon whose remains were never found,” Paul said.
Plymouth memorialized Ronald Hemenway and the thousands of others who died on 9/11 in a memorial site on South Spooner Street. Overnight Sunday, it appears vandals hit the memorial, toppling over a statue of a police officer and knocking ajar several lights.
“It's horrible, horrible. Like brought to tears horrible,” said Elaine Kropas of Plymouth. “When I heard it this morning I couldn't believe it.”
The act is another in a succession of historical sites recently vandalized in Plymouth. Earlier in February, Plymouth Rock was among four objects spray-painted red.
[ Plymouth Rock, several other monuments vandalized with graffiti ]
“It’s a beautiful memorial and I hope it gets fixed as soon as possible,” said Holly Beck.
Some were born too late to remember the day we can't forget.
“This memorial was built to show respect to the people and they should’ve just left it the way it was,” said Isabella Liband.
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On Monday, more than two dozen firefighters installed new lights, hung fresh flags and laid down mulch at the monument site. They also sent the damaged statue out for repairs.
“I don’t know what point they were trying to prove but ultimately what they did was — it was a rallying cry," said Brian Baragwanath of the Plymouth Firefighters Union. "You can knock us down but we’re gonna get back up as firefighters, as first responders as the community and we’re gonna rally behind it, we’re gonna fix it and you’re not gonna win.”
Dick Quintal actually took out a $65,000 loan to pay for the memorial himself nearly two decades ago.
“I don’t think anything has affected me quite like that in all my lifetime and I’m 61," he said. "I mean there were tears in my eyes more than once.”
The memorial was the first in the country to list the names of every person killed in the September 11 attacks. When Quintal heard of the vandalism that took place over the weekend, he was heartbroken.
“It almost breaks my heart, it does actually," Quintal said. "But my heart is stronger, and so [are] all the hearts listed on that memorial.”