Police investigating vandalism to Lawrenceville war memorial

Pittsburgh police are investigating vandalism to a Lawrenceville war memorial that happened late Sunday or early Monday.

Police responded before 8 a.m. to find the statue at Doughboy Square covered in red paint and a message: “June 19, 1986! Glory to the Day of Heroism!”

Police are reviewing available video footage. Officials have not yet identified any possible suspects.

“My opinion is this is some revolutionary wannabe that wants to get into the news cycle, and he or she or both were successful in that,” said Tom Powers, president of the Lawrenceville Historical Society.

The memorial is located at Butler Street and Penn Avenue. It’s set to turn 99 years old on Saturday.

“It would have been a tragic event any time … but it’s especially unfortunate on Memorial Day,” said Jim Wudarczyk, board member for the historical society.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto took to Twitter with strong words for whoever was responsible for the vandalism: “This is not Pittsburgh. Whoever did this. Please leave. Today.”

First dedicated on May 30, 1921, the Doughboy Statue was built with help from the proceeds of an Arsenal Park carnival to recognize residents of Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville and Polish Hill neighborhoods who served during World War I, according to Powers.

Then, to much fanfare and a large crowd, the names of World War II veterans from the city’s Sixth Ward were added to the statue’s base in 1947.

In the decades since, the Doughboy Statue has been “shamefully neglected” at times — even being used as a garbage dump at one point, Powers said. A cleanup effort in the early 1980s stripped away the light green patina veneer, to some historians’ chagrin.

Wudarczyk said he hopes the vandalism incident did not cause any irreversible, long-term damage.

Pittsburgh Public Works’ graffiti removal team worked to clean up the monument on Monday afternoon.

Teamwork.

Thank you to @PGHDPW’s Graffiti Team & @PLANPGH’s Public Art Division for cleaning the Doughboy War Memorial in Lawrenceville after it was defaced last night.

Thanks to @KlavonsIceCream & the community members who brought water to the crews on this hot #MemorialDay! pic.twitter.com/4cbO5CCPkl

— City of Pittsburgh (@CityPGH) May 25, 2020