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L.A. County Supervisors Approve $20K Reward For Taggers Who Vandalized Vietnam War Memorial

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Los Angeles county supervisors Tuesday approved a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of the vandals who defaced a Venice memorial dedicated to POWs and troops missing in action during the Vietnam War.

The city of Los Angeles is expected next week to offer $10,000.

"This disgusting display of disrespect is an insult to those individuals who sacrificed for our country and a slap in the face to their still grieving families," said Supervisor Michael Antonovich, who co-authored the county reward motion with Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. "It is also an indirect attack on all of our veterans and currently serving military personnel."

Last Friday, three days before Memorial Day, vandals sprayed a thick sheen of silver paint over most of the 2,273 names of Vietnam veterans on the memorial at Metro's bus yard on Pacific Avenue near Sunset Court.

The mural, painted in the early 1990s, has a message at the top reading "You Are Not Forgotten" and bears the names of the soldiers counted as prisoners of war or missing in action in Vietnam.

"Veterans, neighbors in Venice and people throughout the nation were righteously outraged about this awful act of vandalism," said Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin, who today introduced a $10,000 reward motion.

"As we work to restore the mural, we need to take every step necessary to make sure the perpetrators of the crime are arrested and punished," he said.

The councilman said "the mural, which is several decades old, had no protective anti-graffiti coating, so removal of the vandals' paint could destroy the mural itself."

Any tips can be reported to watch commander Ramon Montenegro at (323) 563-5000 or (888) 950-7233, or by reaching Bonin's office at (310) 575-8461.

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