FBI announces $2,500 reward in Pittsburgh war memorial vandalism case

The FBI has announced a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for defacing the landmark World War I veterans monument in Lawrenceville on Memorial Day.

The FBI office in Pittsburgh and city police are asking the public’s help in the investigation into the vandalism of the memorial commonly known as the Doughboy Statue along Butler Street and Penn Avenue.

Red paint was used to deface the memorial. Hammers and sickles were painted on all sides of the monument and the person also wrote the phrase, “JUNE 19 1986 GLORY TO THE DAY OF HEROISM.”

The backside of the statue also was splashed with red paint.

Anyone with information regarding this crime should contact the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office at 412-432-4000. Tips may also be reported anonymously at tips.fbi.gov.

City police had not determined the exact meaning of the message or symbols earlier this week, according to a public safety spokesman. Similar hammer and sickle symbols appear on the communist flag.

The date could be a reference to the killings of more than 100 suspected Maoist rebels by Peruvian government security forces on the same date, according to Newsweek.

A Pittsburgh Public Works crew spent part of the holiday cleaning the statue and Lawrenceville United created a GoFundMe page to generate $$10,000 donations for statue restoration. People had pledged $2,660 as of Friday afternoon.

The statue in Doughboy Square was dedicated in 1921 to World War I veterans from the city’s Sixth Ward.

The FBI announced the reward offer in a news release Friday. Officials did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.