Broken and chipped tile now surrounds the veterans memorial at Memorial Park, the victim of vandalism, delinquency or perhaps just simple wear and tear.

However the problem was caused, we simply need to fix it.

On the same day people came to the park to honor those who have given their time and service to our country, the damage to the memorial stood in stark contrast to those honors.

The memorial, along with bricks naming veterans who have served, was placed in the park to honor the hundreds of men and women who have sacrificed or many years and many wars for our country and

for freedom.

To have the memorial in such a state of disarray does no honor to our veterans.

Local residents &8212; whatever their age &8212; should be taught that the memorial is not a place to play or to ride skateboards. It is a place in which to reflect on the sacrifices of those who came before us.

Perhaps the city could partner with another agency or local group willing to take on this project.

In any case, it does our veterans no honor to have a memorial to them in such bad shape. We hope someone will take on the project and make something happen &8212; soon.