Letters missing from bridge memorial

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minneapolis city officials said Wednesday they believe someone vandalized a brand-new memorial to the victims and survivors of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse.

About two dozen stainless steel letters were found to be torn from the Remembrance Garden memorial, which was just dedicated Monday — the fourth anniversary of the collapse that killed 13 people and injured 145 others. Mayor R.T. Rybak said the city believes the letters were intentionally removed.

“A single act is not going to erase the hundreds of thousands of acts of compassion and support this community has shown,” Rybak said. “A single act of stupidity does not cover an entire community's compassionate response.”

After the damage was discovered, the contractor that built the memorial removed the remaining steel letters. KARE-TV reported it could take three weeks or more to make the necessary repairs.

Rybak said here would be an effort to better secure the letters to the memorial so they won't be ripped off again.

Rybak said he hoped that whoever took the letters would return them, or leave them someplace and call a city tip-line so they can be found.

Several hundred people attended Monday's dedication of the Remembrance Garden, including family and friends of victims of the collapse on Aug. 1, 2007. The memorial includes 13 pillars, each etched with the name of a person who died when the bridge fell into the Mississippi River.

The memorial also included a stone water wall inscribed with the names of everyone who was on the bridge but survived.

Tags: updates, memorial, vandals