Graffiti sprayed onto Regina Cenotaph

Vandals seem to have their sights set on the Cenotaph in Victoria Park.

The word “Ardenn!!” was spray-painted onto the Cenotaph in orange paint earlier this week. The word has since been washed off, but a few of the letters could still be made out Tuesday morning.

Graffiti was washed off the Cenotaph in Victoria Park. (Britton Gray/980 CJME)

The president of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 001 was dismayed to hear the Cenotaph had been vandalized for the second time in less than a week.

While most of the graffiti has been cleaned off, it’s still visible.

“It’s in the pores of the granite so it might need sandblasting,” said Ron Hitchcock.

Last week, the plaque commemorating the Royal Canadian Air Force was stolen from the base of the monument. Hitchcock doubts he’ll ever see the plaque again.

The Cenotaph also was vandalized in 2015, when graffiti appeared twice within a three-month span. Hitchcock is at a loss for what to do to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

“What do we have to do?” he said. “If we’re putting guardrails on the plaques, the next thing will be what? Do we put up cameras so people don’t abuse a monument to the freedom that they have? A monument to the people who sacrificed and gave their lives for our freedom?”

The Legion president mostly has questions for the culprits.

“What gives you the right to deface a monument to your freedom?” Hitchcock wondered. “If you don’t want your freedom, we can take it away.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Joseph Ho