A memorial to police in Richmond, Virginia has been vandalized with a message referring to the police killing of a black man in Louisiana.

A large red 'X' was spray-painted on the torso of the statue of an officer carrying a child, and 'Justice for Alton' is written on the stones below, an apparent reference to 37-year-old Alton Sterling of Baton Rouge.

'It's a senseless act,' said local resident H. Penn Burke, whose police father was slain in 1925, to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

This Richmond Police Memorial statue was vandalized Wednesday with graffiti referring to Alton Sterling, who was killed by a police officer in Baton Rouge, La.

Local cops are frustrated that someone would desecrate a memorial to officers who died in the line of duty

Before: The statue was recently installed at Byrd Park to memorialize fallen officers

'In my opinion, children aren't raised correctly correctly today to respect elders, to respect the parents, to respect teachers and especially to respect law enforcement,' he added.

'You may not agree with everything that happens in today's world — but you need to learn to live together with your neighbors, you need to learn to live together with your parents, your teachers, and most importantly law enforcement.'

Richmond PD spokesman James Mercante said the statue, which had recently been installed in the Byrd Park, become a memorial spot as the local community mourned the five officers killed by a sniper in Dallas.

Several citizens dropped bouquets of flowers at the statue.

Locals have been dropping bouquets at the statue in honor of the five Dallas officers slain by a sniper

'It is sad and frustrating to have someone deface a status that represents a memorial for fallen officers,' he told Daily Mail Online.

Mercante said his department prides itself in reaching out to the community and try to foster a good relationship between citizens and officers.

'Just yesterday, we had a community barbeque, a neighborhood walk through and a forum with the mayor, police chief and other community leaders to gather opinions and express frustrations or any problems with the Richmond Police Department,' he said.

'This organization has a robust community policing philosophy and uses many forums to reach out and connect with citizens.

Detectives continue to work on finding out who vandalized the statue.

But for now, Richmond cops are just happy the statue should be cleaned up again by Thursday.