BOSTON (CBS) — A DCR employee hoped to scrub a World War II Memorial clean Monday after it was found vandalized. Mass. State Police said they are investigating how “a substance – believed to be some type of oil – [was] splashed or poured” onto the South Boston statue.

The vandalism was reported to State Police around 11:30 a.m. Monday, it is unclear when the act occurred.

By Monday afternoon, a DCR employee was cleaning the memorial, hoping water and dish soap would do the trick. An hour later, he returned with more men and a power washer.

DCR employee tries to scrub oil off the WWII Memorial on Castle Island.

He’s hoping a bucket of water and dish soap does the trick. MSP says it’s investigating the possibility the structure was vandalized. @wbz pic.twitter.com/1H0kTfcxnc — Anaridis Rodriguez (@Anaridis) March 18, 2019

The memorial is a porous granite structure located at the beginning of the causeway heading to Castle Island. The names of over 200 South Boston residents who fought and died for the U.S. during World War II are engraved in it.

Congressman Stephen Lynch drove down to see the damage firsthand. His wife’s uncle’s name is engraved on one of the benches. “To have his memory and the memory of all his fallen brothers here defamed in this way is just reprehensible and disgraceful,” he said.

Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn served in the Navy for 24 years. He said, “This neighborhood sent a lot of young men overseas in support of our country. A lot of them didn’t come back but the ones that did come back wanted to make sure that those that didn’t, they would always be remembered.”

Residents were also upset by what they saw. “I wanted to cry, I still want to cry,” said Corey Morrissey Scott.

Another man said, “Disgusting. I drove right down here. Normally I walk in here every day.”

Mass. State Police are asking anyone with information to call them.