Authorities investigating after downtown Louisville police memorial vandalized

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Authorities are investigating after police said someone vandalized the police memorial in Jefferson Square in downtown Louisville Wednesday night.

According to Sgt. Matt Sanders, a spokesman for the Louisville Metro Police Department, police were called to the square at the intersection of South 6th Street and West Jefferson Street after someone reported the vandalism.

When officers arrived, they found what appeared to be two flags draped around the memorial. The flags had been set on fire, and there was burn damage to the memorial.

As we approach National #PoliceWeek, a time when we honor our fallen brothers and sisters, a monument honoring fallen officers in Louisville was vandalized. The thugs who desecrated this memorial will be caught, and when they are, no leniency should be given!The memories of our… https://t.co/97x209ENAI pic.twitter.com/ZUQbl5viJl
— National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) (@GLFOP) May 4, 2023

Sanders said surveillance video captured the incident, and that video is being reviewed.

On Thursday afternoon, the River City Fraternal of Police issued a statement:

"During the evening hours of Wednesday, May 3rd, a person or persons vandalized the monument at the Law Enforcement Memorial at Jefferson Square. It appears that several flags were burned on the monument.
Our thanks go out to our fellow members at the Louisville Metro Police Department of Corrections for spotting and reporting the vandalism, and to our partners at the Department of Public Works for their quick response to clean and restore the monument.
Criminals and vandals may be able to desecrate the stone and marble that make up the FOP Law Enforcement Memorial...but to no avail. Nothing they can do can ever touch the sacred place in our hearts where we honor and cherish the memories of our fallen brothers and sisters."

Much of the damage appeared to have been cleaned up by Thursday afternoon, according to a WDRB photojournalist who visited the scene.

Anyone with information is asked to call the LMPD crime tipline at 502-574-LMPD (5673). Anonymous tips can also be sent online through the Crime Tip Portal.