NEW ORLEANS –Mayor Mitch Landrieu donated $2,500 from his campaign fund to support the restoration of the Louisiana Law Enforcement Officers Memorial after vandals damaged the solemn site on Sunday, July 26.
The memorial, located at the Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery, features an eternal flame commemorating and honoring fallen Louisiana law enforcement officers and their legacy of service and sacrifice.
On July 26, vandals destroyed the metal vessel of the memorial that supports the gas-powered eternal flame. Just hours earlier, the memorial was the site of a memorial service for New Orleans Police Officer Vernell Brown Jr., who was killed in the line of duty in a traffic incident on U.S. Highway 90B earlier this month. He was a 17-year veteran of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD). In June, 22-year NOPD veteran Officer Daryle Holloway was also killed in the line of duty when he was shot and killed by a suspect he was transporting to Orleans Parish Prison.
“In the last month, we have laid to rest two sons of this community who died honorably serving the city they loved,” Mayor Landrieu said. “We will not stand for the desecration of the memorial that honors the memory of our fallen heroes. I am disappointed that vandals would care so little about a memorial that honors those who have sacrificed so much for us.”
Officials had no immediate estimate of the cost of the damage, but the vandals pried off and destroyed the metal vessel housing the gas-powered flame.
Matt Patin, executive director of the Louisiana Law Enforcement Officer Memorial, told multiple news outlets the eternal flame was the centerpiece of the memorial.
Patin said it was unclear when the vandals damaged the memorial over the weekend at the Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery.
He says the flame's housing could not have been pried off easily or quickly.
The NOPD Third District Detective Investigative Unit is leading the investigation into Sunday’s vandalism incident
The Louisiana Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring the lives and memories of Louisiana police officers, deputy sheriffs, state troopers, correctional officers and federal agents killed in the line of duty. The memorial relies on the generosity of individuals, organizations and corporations to carry out its work of honoring and remembering the heroes of Louisiana’s law enforcement community. Among other things, contributions enable the organization to maintain the Louisiana Law Enforcement Officers Memorial as a special place of honor that is visited by surviving family members and is the site of an annual candlelight vigil during National Police Week.
The public may also make contributions toward the full restoration and maintenance of the memorial here: www.lleom.org
