TRAVERSE CITY — A brass pair of boots at Veterans Memorial Park in Traverse City now stand alone after someone stole part of the monument.
Vandalism at the park isn’t new, said George Champlin, park caretaker and Grand Traverse Area Veterans Coalition trustee. His wife, Sue, another coalition trustee, was shaken to recently find a bench in the park honoring her father had been marked with graffiti. Picnic tables in the pavilion also had been covered with graffiti and scarred with burn marks.
But the theft of a brass replica of an M-16 rifle, standing on its muzzle with a soldier’s helmet on the stock, was the “straw that broke the camel’s back,” Champlin said.
It was part of a field cross — also known as battlefield cross — for the park’s Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom monument.
Champlin, who led the park’s construction, noticed part of the monument was gone on Saturday, when he and members of veterans group Rolling Thunder were there to install a bench honoring a Vietnam veteran.
Some have taken the theft hard, especially coalition President John Lefler, Champlin said.
“When you see a veteran that, when they’re talking and they talk about it and they break down because of it, you know it’s to their heart,” Champlin said. “So it’s just sad.”
That prompted the coalition to remove picnic tables and benches from the park, on 11th Street near Elmwood Avenue, until next spring, Champlin said.
It also prompted the veterans’ umbrella group to meet Wednesday afternoon at American Legion Post 35 on Hastings Street in Traverse City. That’s when Lefler told the gathering that the monument’s theft really upset him “and a lot of other veterans.”
The coalition wants that monument back – and to do something to stop future destruction, Lefler said.
Traverse City Police Lt. Ryan Taylor took part in the meeting, asking coalition members about vandalism issues and answering their questions about what could be done.
Lefler said he wants to install high-resolution cameras at the park, and George Champlin suggested installing them on poles like the city did over porta-potties near Eleventh and Division streets. That would keep them out of reach from anyone looking to block or destroy them, Champlin said.
Taylor said he’ll discuss the idea with police Chief Matthew Richmond and city Parks and Recreation Superintendent Michelle Hunt. He asked George Champlin and Lefler to join him in meeting with them.
Taylor also asked coalition members about other calls to the park after seeing the police had been dispatched there 13 times so far in 2024, but only once for property destruction.
Sue Champlin told him the coalition had been dealing with the markings and destruction, but not calling in everything until recently. “I think that we just started getting tired of the vandalism, and we started reporting it.”
Taylor urged them to call the police to report any problems at the park, and that tips from the public make a difference.
“You guys think you might be bothering us by calling, but that’s how we solve most of our crimes,” he said.
Some coalition members also expressed concerns about people without homes gathering at the park, occasionally sleeping there or leaving trash behind. Taylor acknowledged that homelessness is a complex issue, but said it would be better to focus on the vandalism and memorial theft.
Sue Champlin also suggested installing solar-powered motion lights in the pavilion, and Lefler proposed installing signs listing park ordinances — both worth considering, Taylor said, especially if the coalition can pay for them.
Lefler said he hopes something is in place in time to reinstall the picnic tables and benches in spring 2025.
The coalition is offering a reward for the field cross’s return, George Champlin said. No amount has been set, and it’ll depend on the monument’s condition.
Taylor told coalition members that detectives will get footage from the security camera on a nearby state office building.
That theft is the subject of an ongoing investigation, Taylor said after the meeting. He agreed the police department also needs to address the other vandalism concerns coalition members shared Wednesday.
George Champlin urged the public to report any issues at the park to the police. He and other coalition members check in on the park routinely, but can’t be there all the time.
It’s a matter of protecting a space that means so much to veterans, he said. George Champlin is not a veteran, but he sees them at the park, sometimes seated, sometimes meditating, sometimes kneeling before a monument.
“It’s a solemn place,” he said, “it’s a sacred place, and so that’s why we want to keep it that way.”