By Keith Brown Times of Trenton
West Windsor Township workers Paul Grasselli and Jack King examine the vandalism at the Ronald Roger Arboretum at Clarksville and Princeton-Hightstown roads in The Township on Monday, November 3, 2014. Martin Griff, Times of Trenton
West Windsor’s September 11 memorial was vandalized over the weekend with red spray-paint defacing the World Trade Center steel beam and other portions of the memorial, police said Monday.
Cyrillic lettering, which is used across many Eastern European countries, was spray painted in red over the slate tile flooring of the memorial’s gazebo, a wooden bench, pavers near the walkway to its reflecting pools, five large stones at the reflecting pools and the beam, police said.
The memorial at the Ronald Roger Arboretum at Clarksville and Princeton-Hightstown roads was vandalized some time between Saturday and Sunday, when the incident was reported, police said.
A partial translation has been made of some of the graffiti, which spells a name believed to be “Bozhena, “Sgt. Mark Lee said.
“To us, this is hallowed ground for our community,” Lee said. “Just the beam itself is very disturbing to people here.”
There were seven victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center from West Windsor. The memorial was dedicated to the memories of:
- Jeffrey M. Chairnoff
- Michael J. Cunningham
- Peter Edward Mardikian
- Patrick Sean Murphy
- Edward R. Pykon
- John J. Ryan, Jr.
- David S. Suarez
Anyone with information is asked to contact the West Windsor Township Police Detective Kevin Loretucci at: (609) 799-1222.
