Vandalism plagues Fredericton Legion

Members of the Fredericton Royal Canadian Legion found their front door smashed Thursday morning – and a monument dedicated to Afghanistan war veterans defaced.

Vandals defaced a door at a Fredericton Legion. (Laura Brown/CTV Atlantic)

The vandalism happened Wednesday evening, the second time this month Legion members have dealt with this type of damage. In late September, more than 20 headstones were defaced at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Fredericton, all within the Legion’s section.

“I've been involved in the Legion probably 30 years plus, because of my husband, and I've never ever seen anything like this,” said Joanne Gibson of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #4. “I work on Remembrance Day, we've been working on it now for a few weeks and I just think, 'Wow, how can you not understand.’ I am very sad over this.”

Fredericton police are investigating.

In the nearby municipality of Harvey, residents discovered two cemeteries and a church vandalized earlier this week. Over a dozen headstones have been kicked over, some with red spray paint displaying expletive language.

Vandals defaced cemeteries in the Harvey, N.B., municipality. (Laura Brown/CTV Atlantic)

“Just being here, I guess it was Wednesday evening, it was continuous,” said Richard Corey, Harvey Rural Community mayor. “Cars coming in and out and people getting out of their car and going to check the gravestone of their family, mother, cousin, and making sure that nothing was wrong with it.”

He said the RCMP have been alerted.

A crew of dedicated community members and businesses have been trying to clean up the sites all week, with more coming to help this weekend.

“It’s a sacred place…when you come to a place like this you have a different sense of life and death, and for someone to come in here and desecrate it like they did with the terrible language like they used, the wording they used, really hurt a lot of people,” Corey said.

The Legion is also working to fix the damage.

Gibson says they’re aiming to have the plaques replaced before Remembrance Day.

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