Thieves prised the metal letters off this monument at Wellington's Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Photo / Facebook / Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Thieves prised the metal letters off this monument at Wellington's Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Photo / Facebook / Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Vandals have stripped letters from signs and wrecked a donated international monument at the national park commemorating New Zealand’s war dead.
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage is seeking the public’s help after thieves targeted monuments at the “sacred” space in Wellington.
Photos released by the ministry show the extensivedamage at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Mt Cook, including metal lettering prised from park signage and from the French Memorial.
“Places like Pukeahu are sacred,” said deputy secretary Glenis Philip-Barbara.
“They exist to honour the memory of those who served and those who lost their lives protecting nations and people so that we might have an opportunity to live in peace.”
The thefts were “unacceptable” and the ministry was “bitterly disappointed that someone has gone to some effort to steal from the fallen”, she said.
Thieves removed metal letters from this sign and others at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Photo / Facebook / Ministry for Culture and Heritage
An archival photo showing the Pukeahu National War Memorial sign before it was damaged.
The memorial Le Calligramme, gifted by the French Government in 2016 to commemorate the bonds forged between New Zealand and France during World War I, sustained substantial damage, with all its lettering picked off.
Images showed exposed screws where the proverb “haere whakamua, titiro whakamuri” had previously been affixed.
The French Embassy condemned the vandalism, saying it “undermines the memory of the New Zealand soldiers who fell in France for our freedom”.
“We thank New Zealand’s authorities for their investigations and the preparatory work that will lead to the repair of this important monument for our common heritage.”
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage is seeking the public's help after thieves stole metal pieces of signage from monuments at a Wellington park. Photo / Facebook / Ministry for Culture and Heritage
The ministry is appealing for anyone who has information about the thefts, believed to have occurred between Christmas Eve and Monday this week, or who knows the whereabouts of the missing letters, to contact Wellington police.
Philip-Barbara said the ministry would “start to consider the reparatory works to memorial and signage” and keep the French Embassy and stakeholders updated in the meantime.
