Stolen historic plaque to be replaced
A historic bronze plaque stolen from a Stourbridge park's war memorial will be replaced in time for Remembrance Day, Dudley Council has pledged.
A historic bronze plaque stolen from a Stourbridge park's war memorial will be replaced in time for Remembrance Day, Dudley Council has pledged.
The metal strip, containing the names of soldiers killed in battle, was taken from the cenotaph in Mary Stevens Park in March, causing outrage among the town's ex-servicemen.
Thieves used a blow torch to remove the plaque - which was located next to a larger plaque also honouring the dead - from the memorial. The metal strip was reported missing from the war memorial by a member of the public who was walking through the park and noticed it was gone.
Now Dudley Council says the roll of honour will be replaced in time for a Remembrance Day service at the memorial on Sunday, November 8.
Stourbridge Royal British Legion chairman Brian Shepherd said: "The council has already put down some extra tarmac around the memorial so that people can attend the ceremony without having to step into flowerbeds.
"I have every confidence the plaque will be replaced in time for Remembrance Day too."
Les Jones, Conservative representative for Pedmore and Stourbridge East, said vandals who damaged the memorial could not be allowed to win.
"It is mindless yobs who damage war memorials and they can never be allowed to win," he said. "The veterans who fight so hard for all of us should be able to hold their heads up in pride."
He added: "You only have to look at the news every day to see what men and women are doing in our name to realise how important these memorials are."
Stourbridge MP Lynda Waltho has urged the council to make sure the cenotaph is made fit for the town's veterans.She said: "Hopefully the council will replace the memorial plaque stolen from the Mary Stevens memorial."
The discovery that thieves had targeted the war memorial came shortly after reports that two historic brass plaques from the park gates and an ornamental flower trough had also been stolen.
A Remembrance Day parade will begin at the Norton Road park's Council Chambers at 10.30am, followed by a service at the memorial from 10.55pm.
Yobs vandalised a war memorial in Tipton for the second time, daubing black paint across it. Council workers had already scrubbed one lot of the paint off the monument in Victoria Park, but within hours the vandals had struck, pouring the paint over every side and blocking out the inscription.
Poppy appeal collector Malcolm Steventon was on his way to sell poppies at Co-op near to the park on Friday morning when he saw workers attempting to clean black paint off the cenotaph. But as he returned home saw it had been attacked again.
