FLINT, MI - The perpetrators behind the vandalism of Flint's historic Sit-Down Strike memorial have been caught and will be punished accordingly with a lunchtime history lesson, says Genesee County Sheriff Robert J. Pickell.

After finding a kitchen chair and a can of paint not far from the scene of the Sit-Downers Memorial Park in Flint, investigators caught up with the culprits - three cousins, ages 9, 10, and 11, who police aren't identifying - on Monday, Aug. 28, Pickell said.

Knocking on doors, an investigator from the sheriff's office was able to identify the suspects after he was invited into an apartment not far from the scene of the crime at the UAW office off Atherton Road, when he noticed the kitchen chair he was sitting in matched the one found near the scene.

"The kids are not criminal, they made a bad mistake," said Pickell, who said the three children smashed windows and painted the memorial "because it was there."

Rather than press charges, the sheriff said UAW Region 1D Director Steve Dawes would rather give the children a lesson on the importance behind the memorial dedicated to the memory of those who participated in the 1936-37 Sit-Down strike.

"He wants to bring the kids in, give them a hamburger, and review with them the history of the labor movement," Pickell said, noting it would be especially fitting with the approaching Labor Day holiday. "I'm hoping ... we'll have these young kids out there on Labor Day listening to some of the old-timers talking about what those statues really meant."

Pickell said that the children will be asked to help clean the site, but all of the damage done to the memorial "can be replaced," aside from the broken windows from the original Fisher Body plant.

The strike began Dec. 30, 1936, when about 50 men sat down on the line inside General Motors' Fisher Body Plant 2, protesting the transfer of three inspectors who refused to quit the union.

It ended 44 days later on Feb. 11, 1937, when both sides reached an agreement that allowed the United Auto Workers union to act as the bargaining representative for hourly workers.

The park is maintained by UAW Region 1-D and has played host to several Labor Day and White Shirt Day events over the years.