WWII Memorial vandalized in Merced

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Merced County World War II Monument was vandalized Friday night. It sits in the middle of Courthouse Square Park in Downtown Merced. The graffiti stained in the concrete can still be seen despite efforts of the volunteers who tried to clean it up on Saturday.

A complete lack of respect, is what community members are saying about pictures that circulated social media on Saturday. Hope Silva is one of the people that stumbled upon the pictures. She said, "I have a cousin that died in the Vietnam War and so for me I know the sacrifice that it takes."

She and a few others, who felt compelled to help, picked up graffiti cleaner and rags and started scrubbing -- hoping to wash away the profanity from the walls. Silva and the other volunteers did what they could, but had to stop after an hour. "So we just stopped cleaning because we noticing that some of the paint started come out of the lettering, and we didn't want to ruin it either," said Silva.

Now it's Silva's goal to get more lighting in Courthouse Square Park so criminals can't get away with this again. "Somebody would've probably seen it had it been lit up. You know it's so dark," Silva said.

The Merced County Sheriff's Office said the crime is under investigation. The county has a graffiti abatement team that specifically deals with the clean up of buildings. Whether the rest of the stains will come off, is yet to be determined.