Cleanup is underway at the Moreno Valley Veterans Memorial after it was set on fire over the weekend in an apparent act of arson.
Local veteran Ian Cormier was in the area when the fire broke out Saturday morning. He said he was parked in his car and was about to get out to get a cup of coffee when he saw the flames surround the memorial.
“I saw the reflection of fire in the window over there and that prompted me to look behind me, and when I did I recognized that it was a fire,” Cormier told KTLA Monday.
The granite and bronze memorial was surrounded by neatly kept landscaping, including olive trees and a rose garden which have now been blackened and burned to ash. Lights and irrigation at the memorial were also melted in the blaze.
City officials believe an arsonist intentionally set the fire.
“For someone to do this is just completely unacceptable and we won’t have it,” Moreno Valley city councilman Ulises Cabrera said.
On Monday, city workers were out clearing debris and polishing what was damaged.
The Veterans Memorial was dedicated in June 2007 and is meant to honor the veteran community and those in Moreno Valley who lost their lives in service of the country.
Cabrera says the city and its police force are working to find the person responsible for the fire.
“Because of what’s happening recently and what’s going on overseas in Ukraine and active military situations that people are paying attention to, it’s putting more of a spotlight and reminds us of the importance of why we do things like this,” Cabrera said. “To remember the fallen soldiers who sacrificed their lives.”
As a veteran himself, Cormier said it was hard to watch the memorial go up in flames.
“It just really hurts your heart because you fight for the country and you see these dark principalities trying to take over the place,” he said.
Veterans from across the Inland Empire voiced their disappointment in the arson at the memorial.
Air Force vet Richard Chalupnik said he found the whole thing “despicable.”
“Really goes against our country and those who actually gave this country the freedom that it enjoys,” Chalupnik said. “Sometimes I wonder if people that do these things have ever actually been outside the country and around folks in other countries and listened to them, because what we have here is quite unique.”
Despite the blackened landscaping and a few melted lights, the Fallen Soldier memorial is still in tact. But to the veterans who spoke to KTLA on Monday, it was the act of intentionally setting the fire that distressed so many of those who have fought in the service of this country.