Attleboro war veteran plaques stolen

ATTLEBORO, Mass. -- Police in Attleboro said some cruel criminals got away with metal plaques from a war memorial at a local park.

Those plaques honor Attleboro veterans who fought in World War II and the Vietnam War.

“Never in our wildest dreams did we ever think something like this would happen, and it’s just so sad...there’s just no reason for it, none whatsoever,” said Superintendent Sonny Almeida of the Department of Parks and Forestry.

Local residents are hoping that whoever stole the plaques will have the compassion to return them.

“For somebody to do something like that, they must have been desperate,” said a resident who has been coming to the park for years.

Almeida fears the worst. He believes the thieves who pried the plaques from the concrete did it for money, selling the metal to junkyards for cash.

“They had to work at it. If you look at the holes in some of these...They’re in deep. Here it is, the week before Christmas, and these people have died for freedom for our country and some jerk comes in and destroys everything, it’s just so disheartening,” said Almeida.

The town’s veterans are already working to replace the plaques, but the new ones will not be made with bronze. Almeida said that he hopes whoever stole the plaques is caught and if they don’t go to jail, he wants them to pay for the plaques and work for him for a year.

Police are still searching for whoever is behind the crime.

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