Fluorescent green scribblings defacing the Sgt. Justin Norton Memorial Mural standout as traffic passes underneath a train trestle that crosses over Highway 507 north of Rainier on Wednesday afternoon. The graffiti on the mural was spotted sometime late Tuesday evening. A mural dedicated to Sgt. Norton was existed under the trestle for several years and was recently revamped last August.
In this long exposure image, fluorescent green scribblings defacing the Sgt. Justin Norton Memorial Mural standout as a dump truck passes underneath a train trestle that crosses over Highway 507 north of Rainier on Wednesday afternoon. The graffiti on the mural was spotted sometime late Tuesday evening. A mural dedicated to Sgt. Norton was existed under the trestle for several years and was recently revamped last August.
A mural painted on a train trestle outside the city of Rainier as a memorial to a fallen soldier was vandalized twice this week, sparking anger in the community.
The mural was painted in memory of Sgt. Justin Norton, who was deployed to Iraq in 2005 and killed at age 21 by an improvised explosive device in Baghdad in 2006.
The mural was first vandalized on Monday between 12:30 and 2 p.m., said Amber DuCharme, the city’s deputy clerk.
Someone spray-painted the words "War Criminal" and "Baby Killer" over the mural.
Pattrick Shepherd, a local painter, painted over the graffiti Monday, but it was vandalized again on Tuesday, with the words "War Criminal."
DuCharme said a couple driving by saw a man in his mid-20s in a dark-colored SUV vandalizing the mural on Tuesday. The couple confronted the man, but by the time law enforcement arrived, he was gone.
Thurston County Sheriff's Office spokesman Greg Elwin said they tracked down the perpetrator and interviewed him, but because the mural itself is technically graffiti — the trestle is owned by a railroad company, who would technically have to give permission to paint on it — the sheriff's office wasn't able to take enforcement action.
The railroad company is the victim, but if they wanted to pursue criminal charges, the defense would be, why don't they go after people who painted graffiti on the trestle, Elwin said.
"It's a despicable act to deface a memorial of a local hero and the sheriff's office is frankly quite frustrated that this happened and frustrated by the fact we can't take any enforcement action," he said. "You would think people would have more respect than to deface a memorial like that. Clearly, we're not talking about somebody with much respect."
Shepherd, himself a veteran, said he's looking into purchasing an anti-graffiti coating to apply to the mural.
"It completely broke my heart," Shepherd said of the vandalism. "I'm not a veteran of war. I never deployed, never got the opportunity to deploy, but I mean, the people that put their lives on the line for our freedom on a day to day basis … I just don't understand how people can have a heart like that to vandalize and just completely disrespect somebody that lost their life for their freedom. It's just outrageous."
The vandalism has caused a lot of anger in the community, Shepherd said.
"It just boils up inside of people that are patriotic and it really hurts," he said. "It's sad, especially if his parents were to see it or anything like that. It would just be devastating.
"Everybody's entitled to their opinion, but when it comes to being so far into your political views that you go and try to hurt other people, it's just a sickness. It's sad."
It's not the first time the mural was defaced. A previous version of the mural was vandalized in October 2012. The mural was painted over with white paint.
A group composed of Tenino and Rainier high school students and local artists repainted the mural last August.
