CHICAGO, Dec. 4 Chicago police said vandals stole two plaques from the city's Vietnam Veterans Memorial.Officer John Mirabelli said the plaques, which are circular objects measuring 14 inches in diameter, were taken from the downtown memorial early Sunday morning, The Chicago Tribune reported Monday.Matthew Claussen, state commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Illinois, expressed outrage at the theft.This is absolutely a disgrace, he said to the Tribune. To know the sacrifice these veterans have made and to have someone blatantly come by and steal from there; that is disgraceful, especially to the Vietnam veterans whom this nation turned its back on.The memorial, one of the largest dedicated to veterans of the Vietnam War outside of Washington, bears the names of nearly 3,000 Illinois soldiers who were either killed in the war or remain missing in action, the newspaper said.That monument is sacred to somebody, Claussen said. Otherwise they would never put the effort into having it erected. It's a shame to have it desecrated. Any one of these memorials that are erected for veterans, they are part of our healing process and give us place to go and reflect.Copyright 2006 by UPI
