It happens in every town, especially the small ones. A group of friends get intoxicated together, and go wandering through the town late at night. They may not necessarily be looking for mischief, but it usually has no trouble finding them.
When these people are in groups, they always want to impress their friends. If they see a sign in front of a storefront, its going down. A hanging flower basket? Its soon to be airborne. But the next guy always wants to outdo his buddy, so he might even break a window.
What started out as someone just wanting to be foolish can soon turn into an illegal destruction of property.
But what happened in Parrsboros cenotaph recently was much more than that. By kicking and breaking a light on the war memorial property, the vandal showed not only complete disregard for someone elses property, but complete disrespect for the local soldiers who sacrificed their lives for their country. That is inexcusable.
In the recent incident Parrsboro, the damage was not as bad as it could have been, and the light was repaired. But that is not the point. As legion member Keith Odlin recently pointed out, that person might not even have the right to walk freely down the street if people like those local heroes had not made the supreme sacrifice.
One individual commented that instead of being fined or given some other light sentence, the guilty parties should be suited up and sent directly to Afghanistan, so they can get a taste of what those soldiers may have gone through. At the very least, they need to be educated on how to show proper respect for those who fought for our freedom.
In all seriousness, this is not the first incident of vandalism in Parrsboro this spring, and law enforcement and town officials must act quickly and decisively to address this issue before it gets out of control.
Are cameras the answer? I honestly dont know. They would have to be placed far enough out of reach so as not to become new targets for the vandals, but would have to be close enough to identify culprits. And how effective would they be at night?
Right now there is only one option that is clearly unacceptable, and that is the status quo.
