A restored Vietnam War memorial in Venice was unveiled Monday, almost a year to the day after it was first vandalized and months after it was vandalized a second time.
The idea was not only to restore the memorial - a wall with more than 2,000 names of POWs and troops missing in action during the Vietnam War - but also to make sure the vandalism never happens again.
"For us to take this back, for us to restore it to its original luster and for us to present it to our neighborhood is a big, important thing," said George Francisco, president of the Venice Chamber of Commerce.
The wall was first vandalized with graffiti in 2016. Volunteers worked to clean up the memorial, but in the process erased dozens of names on the wall. Angel Castro pleaded no contest to vandalism and robbery and was sentenced to four years in state prison for the incident.
In March 2017, the wall was again vandalized in what authorities believe was an unrelated incident. While no suspects have been identified for that case, the incident prompted the work to begin restoring the wall.
The full list of names on the wall was tracked to the estate of the artist who originally created the work in the early 1990s. This time, workers put a protective coating on top so that any graffiti sprayed on can be easily washed off.
"These men and women are my brothers and sisters" said Charlie Saulenas, a Vietnam War veteran who attended the unveiling. "There they are," he said, gesturing toward the names on the wall, "just proud as can be on Memorial Day."
