Chatham-Kent police thoroughly investigating cenotaph vandalism; challenge faced in removing damage

Chatham-Kent police are making a public commitment to thoroughly investigate the offensive vandalism that defaced Chatham’s downtown cenotaph.

Since police reported the vandalism of the cenotaph, which included two swastikas spray painted on the monument with blue paint, there has been widespread public outrage, police said Thursday.

“We understand that such actions can cause concern and unrest among citizens, and we want to assure you that we are doing everything possible to investigate the matter,” police said in a media release.

Police are urgent anyone with information or video footage that may help with this investigation to contact Const. Fraser Curtis of the intelligence unit at [email protected] or 519-436-6600.

Anonymous calls can also be made to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

This is the second time in fourth months the war memorial has been defaced. The cenotaph was also vandalized just before Remembrance Day last November.

Len Maynard, president of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 642, described the latest vandalism as “a heinous act against a symbol of remembrance of a great sacrifice for Canadians by Canadians.”

Memorial Restorations from Sarnia, the company that repaired the cenotaph last November, was again called to repair the monument.

A lot of the paint was removed Wednesday, but there are challenges in removing all traces of the grafitti, said Memorial Restorations owner Tom Klaasen.

“Unfortunately the oils in the paint, they create a deep, dark impression. . . in the stone,” he said.

“I hate to say it, but there’s a possibility it might take a long time to get that staining out of there.”

Care was taken not to scrub the stone too aggressively otherwise it could leave permanent marks, he said.

His crew did as much as they could “based the season and the complexity of the clean,” Klaasen added.

Before leaving, Klaasen said a bio-cleaner was applied, which works differently than more caustic chemical cleaners.

“It actually has to penetrate the core of the soiling (and) then it kills it at the root and works its way out backwards,” he said. “It’s a very time-based cleaner.”

Klaasen hopes the bio-cleaner will be able to “work its magic” to kill the stain from its core during the next couple of months.

There are other options to explore, he added, including steam cleaning, soda blasting and a micro-abrasion process.

Klaasen said his company will also look into applying a graffiti-prevention product to help keep paint from penetrating the stone as deeply as a precaution.