Brownwood Veterans' Memorial Damaged Prior to Memorial Day

BROWNWOOD, TX-- Four granite tablets at a veterans memorial in Brownwood broke over the weekend and Brownwood PD is investigating the cause.

Harold Stieber, President of the Central Texas Veterans' Memorial, told KTXS the damage is estimated at $40,000. 

Stieber was at the facility at 8 a.m. on Sunday to finish the Huey Helicopter display. He quickly realized something was wrong. He saw four tablets at the memorial on the ground, shattered to pieces.

"It's a tragic loss because a lot of time, effort and work went into this," Stieber said to KTXS.

It's unclear whether it was strong winds from storms in the area or vandals which knocked the tablets over, but people suspect vandals played a part in the destruction.

"The memory of these men that were on this plaque are not to be forgotten," Stieber said. "It's our mission to see to it they're not, and so we will rebuild and soon."

The tablets were placed in the Central Texas Veterans' Memorial in 2016.

The Memorial Day plans at the Central Texas Veterans' Memorial are set to go ahead as planned, despite the damage.

"There's a lot of suffering in the world and this is minor compared to what's going on in the world," Stieber said.

The Memorial Day service will take place at the Central Texas Veterans' Memorial at 11 a.m. after a 9:30 a.m. service in Early at Eastlawn Memorial Park.