ANGER AT CENOTAPH GRAFFITI

Drayton Valley Western Review - Royal Canadian Legion members were shocked
and horrified at graffiti painted on the memorial cenotaph Nov. 10. Vandals
tagged the large cement wall which stands across the street from the legion
building with pro-drug statements. The site also serves as the site of the
Remembrance Day ceremonies in which wreaths are placed to honour veterans
who have died.

Late Sunday night or early Monday morning of last week, vandals used orange
and black spray paint to glorify drug use on the cenotaph that stands as a
memorial to Canada's war dead.

"When I first saw it I was shocked, then angry, then absolutely disgusted,
and finally pitiful. I feel sorry for anyone with that much ignorance and
that much malice," said legion President Paul Spurrell.

The vandals made numerous references to marijuana and speed, which is a
slang term for methamphetamine. They also painted 4:20 in many spots. This
term, RCMP say, represents the international date (April 20) in which
marijuana smokers join together for festivals, protests, and public rights
movements.

"They use the term in the same aspect as people use the Bible verse John
3:16 at different functions," said RCMP Staff Sgt. Steve Harrington.

"I'd like to see these people that do this type of thing spend 56 days in
the hothouse in the military, then we'll see how much spray painting is
done," said Second World War veteran Cal Bartlett.

The vandalism had to be quickly washed off, then scraped and finally
painted over before the next day's ceremonies. The cenotaph was decorated
with a mural painted free of charge by Cheng Bly, the same artist who
painted the larger mural hanging on the side of the legion building.

The cenotaph mural depicted soldiers walking on the globe signifying
Canada's global peacekeeping efforts. When a new mural is painted on the
cenotaph, a coating will be sprayed over the finished piece. This coating
prevents the original work from being harmed while allowing any vandalism
such as this to be easily washed off. The larger mural across the street
receives this treatment every three years.

"The irony is that if it weren't for the sacrifices made by our veterans,
these people wouldn't even have the freedom to pull this type of atrocity,"
said Spurrell. "When you've stood and watched four coffins draped with a
Canadian flag get loaded onto a truck to go home, all the spray paint in
the world doesn't mean a thing," NATO peacekeeper Blaine Hopf said.
"Meeting them in a back alley is a different matter though."

Many businesses along the same street were also labelled with
anti-political and satanic statements which, RCMP say, could mean the
incidents were perpetrated by the same individuals. RCMP state at this time
they can't reveal any aspects of the investigation and ask anyone with
information to call the local detachment.

Valley Power and PDQ Communications have donated $100 each to go towards
having a new mural painted on the cenotaph and the legion says any other
donations would be much appreciated.

The money used to wash off and paint over the damage would have gone toward
air cadets, scouts, senior's groups or one of the many local organizations
to which the legion provides financial assistance.