Editorial: Wanton acts against fallen servicemen

Tracey Chatterton.

There are a few things that really grind my gears. At the moment it is dangerous driving and vandalism.

While I could ramble on about the risky passing manoeuvres I witnessed on the expressway at the weekend, it is people who needlessly destroy or deface other people's property that has got me fired up.

At the weekend, vandals ripped more than 200 pansy and primula plants from garden beds in Dannevirke Domain. What makes it worse was that it was around the cenotaph, which commemorates local men who fought and died for our country.

The vandals also destroyed remaining wreaths and threw them at the war memorial, as well as scattering them in the upper domain.

It is the second act of vandalism targeting memorials dedicated to servicemen.

Before Anzac Day, 66 memorial crosses were set up as a Field of Remembrance in the Taradale War Memorial grounds.

Days after they were carefully placed, vandals pulled out several of them and broke off the cross spars.

It is disappointing and disrespectful, as these monuments are a reminder of those who died fighting for our freedom.

Who knows what those responsible were thinking as they did their damage? Perhaps they weren't thinking at all.

If these people are found, maybe they could go through restorative justice and sit down with a veteran who could educate them on the horrors of war and the sacrifice that those who serve make.

The world we live in could have been very different if our men did not go off to fight for our country.