War Memorial Defaced in Hamilton

Story via the Hamilton Spectator --

The Argyle and Sutherland War Memorial in Bayfront Park, Hamilton was defaced with graffiti. Apparently the graffiti, done in indelible black marker, alluded to First Nations grievances, although it's far from certain that the perpetrators were First Nations themselves. (I'm leaning towards white leftist/anarchist campus hangers-on -- just an educated guess.)

The graffiti was spotted by a jogger named Lino Di Julio, who expressed his disgust at the find.

“So not only is it offensive, it's ignorant,” he says. “I get that everybody wants to have their opinions heard, but… nobody who died in World War I and II is responsible for what you're angry about.”

An excellent candidate for Citizen of the Year, Di Julio took it upon himself to try to remove the graffiti and restore the solemn dignity of the memorial to this regiment's war dead. Di Julio returned the next day with cleaning supplies to tackle the job.

“I scrubbed at it for an hour and a half. It's mostly illegible now,” he said Friday morning.

By evening, as Di Julio returned to complete the task, the city's Parks Department had taken over the clean-up.

Would that more people were like Mr. Di Julio and fewer like the graffiti vandals.