War Monuments Defaced In Pensacola

Jarvis Lewis and Buddy James spent their day off cleaning up two damaged war memorials at Veterans Memorial Park in downtown Pensacola.

"It makes me sick to think someone did this," says James. "I'm a war veteran and a Merchant Marine and I thought I'd do what I can to help. I just think it's awful what happened so I'm in port today and thought I'd clean it up."

Armed with paintbrushes, the two men touched up the precious monuments damaged by vandals.

"When we first saw it, there was a Swastika across the Purple Heart and a big black "x" across the writings," says Lewis. "There were also curse words written on the statue."

The incident was first reported Monday afternoon. The Pensacola Police Department is investigating the case.

Lewis and James spent much of the day Tuesday making repairs.

"We'll have it back to normal by the end of the day," says James. "These monuments are precious to our community and to the people who fought and died for our country."