After vandals desecrated the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Boston on Oct. 25, actor Mark Wahlberg decided to support efforts in restoring the memorial.
Wahlberg, a native of Boston, sent out a tweet backing a GoFundMe page that’s been set up to restore the memorial, which was dedicated in 1986 on Morrissey Boulevard in the Dorchester neighborhood, according to Connecting Vets.
— Mark Wahlberg (@markwahlberg) November 2, 2018
The memorial honors the 80 Dorchester men who died in the Vietnam War.
Lisa Zinck, whose father is president of the Dorchester Vietnam Memorial Committee, said she was shaken when her father told her what happened.
In an attempt to do her part, Lisa started the GoFundMe campaign to help raise money for repairs.
After 11 days, 224 donations raised nearly $19,000 of the $25,000 goal.
“The support from around the neighborhood has been overwhelming,” said Lisa.
She added that a local business owner had just told her they raised an additional $5,000 and the City of Boston Credit Union wants to help pay for repairs too, The Patch reported.
“I just want to thank everyone for their support,” she said. “I know how much they work and how much effort [my father and the volunteer committee] put into it. I wanted to do something. This has become a local landmark around here. It’s special to us all,” Lisa said.
There has never been any vandalism to the memorial in the 33 years it has existed.
Boston News Mark Wahlberg lending support to repairs on vandalized memorial https://t.co/3zRQ9Y3OcG pic.twitter.com/PhKh8K8Ahd
— Boston NewsChannel (@Boston_NC) November 3, 2018
Lisa’s father, Joseph Zinck, the memorial committee president said, “We are trying to regroup and raise money to repair the damage that was done. I don’t know how we’ll replace them. We’ll have to replace everything down there. It’ll be worth $15,000 to $20,000. It’s a tragic thing,” The Boston Herald reported.
Around 20 bushes were destroyed, flower beds were ruined, and bricks were thrown, defacing the front of the memorial.
According to state police, the vandals cut apart an American flag, ripped a Massachusetts flag down, destroyed it and left it on the ground covered in trash.
A POW/MIA flag was also stolen.
Zinck said, “Someone was very angry. It took someone a while to do this. They had to go down there with intention. I feel bad for whoever did this. They must have some anger issues.”
So far, no one has been arrested.
