GOLDEN, Colo. — A U.S. Marine Corps Memorial in Golden sits covered in graffiti Thursday after somebody spray painted "Free Gaza" on the stone.
It happened around the same time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Congress about his war on Hamas.
Located on a small corner in Golden, the memorial sits in a spot to remember and honor the Marines who've served. Now, those who take care of the memorial are working to clean the graffiti up.
"But this is where my heart is here. And it's really more than a memorial. It's a lot of healing and teaching that takes place here," said Paula Sarlls, the president of the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial Foundation and a Marine veteran herself.
Sarlls said their quiet memorial was hit by vandals, they believe it happened Wednesday night.
Spray-painted onto the stone, bright red graffiti greets drivers from the highway.
"It's not how you do free speech. This is vandalism, plain and simple," Sarlls said.
The script reads "Free Gaza."
"It doesn't really matter what it says," Sarlls said. "What matters is the fact that they vandalized an honored, sacred place. And we value freedom of speech, we encourage people to use it and we would fight for them again."
As the sun started to go down over the memorial Thursday evening, fellow Marines and veterans greeted Sarlls.
The small group gathered to brainstorm ideas about who and how they will scrub the graffiti away.
"Hopefully, we can find somebody to do it," Sarlls said.
The group was frustrated to see a place that honors those who've sacrificed so much be targeted by others. They're now praying nothing like this happens here again.
The USMC Memorial Foundation is searching for someone who can help them clean up the graffiti. They said the stone is very delicate so simply power washing the words away won't cut it.
They hoped to get the memorial cleaned up before the memorial's 47th-anniversary celebration in August.
Anyone with any information about the vandalism should contact Golden Police.