Kentucky memorial honoring fallen police officers vandalized with American flag burnings

Burning flags appeared to have been draped over the Louisville Law Enforcement Memorial in Kentucky

A memorial honoring law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty was vandalized this week with the burning of American flags just days before the start of National Police Week.

According to the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and a report by the Louisville Courier Journal, the crime occurred late Wednesday at the Louisville Law Enforcement Memorial in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. 

It appeared two American flags were burned in the eternal flame that sits atop the memorial in Jefferson Square Park, not far from the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections building, the report said.

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"As we approach National [Police Week], a time when we honor our fallen brothers and sisters, a monument honoring fallen officers in Louisville was vandalized. The thugs who desecrated this memorial will be caught, and when they are, no leniency should be given! The memories of our fallen officers will forever live in our hearts and minds," the FOP wrote in a Thursday tweet, including a photo of the badly damaged memorial.

Ryan Straw, the vice president and governmental affairs director for the Kentucky FOP also posted a tweet with the photo. "What a slap in the face this is to our families of the fallen, our officers still serving, and the entire community," he wrote.

According to the report, officers responded to a call at approximately 11:15 p.m. Wednesday and found the two charred flags draped over the memorial. Most of the debris was cleared by Thursday morning, except for some of the flags' remnants strewn along the ground and the damage to the memorial itself.

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The Louisville Law Enforcement Memorial was damaged by vandals who burned American flags using the the eternal flame that sits atop the memorial on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. (Louisville Metro Police Department )

The report said that Louisville police were reviewing video of the incident, and an officer with the Louisville police media relations office told Fox News Digital the crime was still under investigation.

One Kentucky priest named Father Jim Sichko offered to pay to have the memorial repaired. "I will cover the expense to have this restored. SOMEONE WHO OVERSEES THIS let me know," he wrote on Twitter in response to the FOP.

The memorial was previously defaced in 2020 during the protests and riots following the death of Breonna Taylor, who died when police conducted a raid on her apartment related to a drug investigation.

A photo of Breonna Taylor is seen among other photos of women who have lost their lives as a result of violence during the 2nd Annual Defend Black Women March in Black Lives Matter Plaza on July 30, 2022 in Washington, DC.  (Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Frontline Action Hub)