Outrage as man 'defaces 9/11 memorial decorating it with cut-outs of crashing planes on 12th anniversary of the tragedy'

Callous crime: Salvador Perez, 35, has been charged with criminal damage to a historic building and criminal trespassing and police say he defaced a 9/11 memorial

On the 12th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, one man allegedly chose to mark the somber occasion by defacing a Louisiana memorial honoring the victims.

Police have arrested 35-year-old Salvador Perez, accused of placing two cardboard cutout images of crashing planes at the 9/11 Memorial in downtown Lafayette.



Lafayette Police Cpl. Paul Mouton said Perez was arrested Wednesday on a charge of criminal damage to a historic building and criminal trespassing.



Perez was booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center. He faces up to $1,000 in fines and two years in jail if convicted.



Police responded to Parc San Souci at 8am after receiving reports of vandalism at the memorial. According to investigators, the insensitive graffiti was apparently placed at the monument overnight Tuesday.



The 9/11 monument is a 1-by-100 scale of both the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

It includes a pair of 13-foot I-beams from the World Trade Center, limestone from the Pentagon, and soil from the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, field in which United Flight 93 crashed, the station KATC reported.



Police say an analysis of the scene— along with the style the artist used in drawing the pieces attached to the memorial — led them to Mr Perez.

Vile prank: The vandal attached two cartoon crashing planes to the 13-foot I-beams salvaged from Ground Zero to be used in the Lafayette, Louisiana, monument

Besides the cardboard planes, the graffiti also included a cutout of President George W. Bush with a wad of cash in his hand and a remote control.



The stabilizers on the cartoon planes featured the Eye of Providence and the initials NWO standing for the New World Order - a reference to a fringe conspiracy theory that the attacks of 9/11 were carried out by the American government.

The management of a building located across the street from the monument also reported discovering a cartoon squirrel on top of its roof pointing a gun at the memorial, according to the station KETK .



The monument was dedicated on Sept. 11, 2002, the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

Hours after the vandalism episode, seven local firefighters gathered at the foot of the memorial to pay tribute to their 343 fallen New York comrades.



Conspiracy: The graffiti also included a cutout of President George W. Bush with a wad of cash in his hand and a remote control, and featured references to the theory that the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 attacks

‘It’s a disgrace to the men and women who died that day,’ firefighter Grant Venable, who was 16 when the attacks occurred, told The Advocate.

Lafayette Fire Chief Robert Benoit called the incident a defacement that dishonored New York firefighters and other emergency responders who were killed.



Police have yet to determine the motive behind the vandalism.

