Vandalized Peace Light memorial may be unfixable
The boards block most of the words spray painted in blue and black, though one phrase - "U can't get us" - is still visible.
Gettysburg National Military Park officials say the damage cannot be addressed until temperatures warm up because of the monument's unique material.
Overlooking the battlefield of first-day fighting at Gettysburg, the Peace Light was conceived as a symbol of unity between the North and South. It was dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 3, 1938, the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Veterans from both the Union and Confederate armies attended the service, as did about 250,000 other people.
Vandalism has a history of its own at Gettysburg, said Rick Hohmann, president of the Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides.
"Vandalism has been a problem not just recently but almost since the inception of the park," Hohmann said, adding that records show vandalism at the park as early as the 1880s.
More recently, in 2006, someone vandalized the 4th New York Independent Artillery Battery monument by pulling the bronze artilleryman on the monument from its pedestal and dragging it 160 feet. Its head and the rammer for a cannon were broken off and never found.
Two other monuments were damaged at the same time, and park officials said at the time it was the worst act of vandalism in memory.
Graffiti is also not new to the Peace Light memorial, which park officials spent $2,500 to repair years ago after so many visitors had written their names on it.