Pieces of Iraq War memorial found

The missing pieces of the Mount Pleasant Iraq War Memorial were found Friday in the Chippewa River near Pickens Field, police officials said.

According to a press release from the Mount Pleasant Police Department, officers acted on a tip that led to both the location of the missing pieces and to two suspects.

“Officers were able to locate both juveniles who were identified as the suspects,” the release stated. “In the presence of a parent, both juveniles admitted to their parts in the theft from the memorial.”

The juveniles are in the custody of their parents and the MPPD will be submitting the investigation to the Isabella County Prosecutor’s Office with the required juvenile petitions, according to the MPPD.

Pickens Field, located at 309 W. Pickard Ave., near where the missing pieces were found, is a youth baseball and softball park off Pickard Street across the river from Island Park.

The bronze helmet and rifle from the memorial in Island Park, 331 N. Main St., were stolen sometime between April 4 and April 7. The missing portion of the statue remains in the property room of the MPPD.

According to the release, the relationship between the MPPD Youth Services Unit and area young people was a major factor in solving the case.

“In cases such as this one, crimes are hard to solve without a community/police department relationship,” the release stated. “We would like to thank all of the individuals and groups who have shown their support and given their time on this crime.”

Police officials said the distribution of the reward is unknown because the individual who provided the tip did not take the $5,000 reward and did it because his grandfather was a veteran.

John Smith, 77, a Mount Pleasant resident and member of Veteran of Foreign Wars, contacted people to get offers of reward money once he learned of the theft.

Smith, a Korean War veteran, said he was relieved to learn that the culprits were juveniles, even though he was disappointed in the act.

“I thought maybe it was a act against the war in Iraq. It wasn’t a deliberate attack on the war,” he said. “I’m hoping it won’t happen again.”

Smith was also pleased that a young man provided the tip to the police.

The memorial has been vandalized before, and Smith believes part of the problem might be the memorial’s remote location.

“It seems like people don’t get to see it,” he said. “Other memorials don’t come under attack accidentally or deliberately, and this one shouldn’t either.”

metro@cm-life.com