Existing comment:
Repairing the damage is difficult and costly. In some cases, it is not even known what the missing pieces really looked like. In other cases, what remains is so little or fragile that to make the repair would only cause more damage. Some monuments are located where they would only be vandalized again if missing elements were returned. There are more than two hundred pieces of missing bronze work alone. A 2002 estimate placed the cost of repairing or replacing just those bronze pieces at more than $1.5 million. You can help prevent any additional damage by not climbing or sitting on the monuments and by reporting new acts of vandalism to National Military Park staff.
The Ohio Monument Drummer Boy:
The drummer boy is one of four stone statues on the Ohio Monument on Missionary Ridge. Vandals toppled the drummer boy from his base and broke him into several pieces. In 1977, the statue was reassembled and restored by a stone company in Atlanta, Georgia. The cost was $3,500. The broken parts were reattached with stainless steel dowels and an adhesive called Bonstone Epoxy (you can see the steel rods and epoxy on his wrist). Aluminum drumsticks replaced the original granite ones. Since being returned to the monument, the drummer boy has been vandalized yet again. |