THE desecration of Wagga’s new eternal flame just days after its official opening has caused disgust and disappointment in the city’s ex-service community.
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What appears to have been a plastic bottle was melted on the metal rim of the eternal flame, leaving a black blob that will require the flame to be extinguished to be removed.
“I think it was deliberate, and I think most of the people I have spoken to about it think it was deliberate, too,” said Ken May, secretary of the Wagga sub-branch of the RSL.
“They are just appalled.
“It has been lit for six days and within a week someone has done something like this.
“It’s very hard to understand why.”
The eternal flame is a joint project of the sub-branch, the city council, the Wagga RSL Club and the federal government.
It cost $130,000 to build and replaced a smaller flame opened 25 years ago.
Mr May appealed to anyone thinking of vandalising the eternal flame in the future to instead think of the sacrifices made for them by the people whose names appear on the honour roll surrounding the eternal flame.
“Just think about what you are doing,” Mr May said. “It’s a memorial to all the servicemen and women we have lost over the past 100 years.
“I don’t know how anyone could think this is a good idea,” he said of the vandalism.
Turning off the flame to remove the molten plastic is upsetting to sub-branch members.
"It is meant to be an eternal flame, it should not be extinguished," Mr May said.
Wagga’s mayor Rod Kendall described the vandalism as a shame. “It’s particularly disappointing it’s the eternal flame, which is dedicated to those service people in particular who made the supreme sacrifice for our freedom,” Councillor Kendall said.