A memorial produced by College Republicans at Occidental College — Barack Obama’s alma mater — to pay tribute to the lives lost in the 9/11 terrorist attacks was vandalised on Saturday night, with the vandals also putting up posters attempting to shame the victims of the tragedy.

The memorial was at Occidental College, a Liberal Arts school in Los Angeles, and was an arrangement of 2,997 American flags, one for each of the lives lost in the attack.

However, the group revealed on Saturday that the memorial had been destroyed, as they discovered “vandals crushed, snapped, and threw in the garbage every single flag.”

“Today is meant to be a day of respect and remembrance for all the victims and heroes of 9/11. Last night, our club sponsored a memorial for the 2,997 who died exactly 15 years ago,” they said. “Students of all backgrounds came out and planted 2,997 American flags in our quad here at Occidental.”

By the time the vandals were finished, “not one flag was left in the ground,” the group said.

The protestors also “put up posters and flyers up that shamed the victims of 9/11,” and came back for a second round of vandalism after the group rebuilt the memorial.

Members of the Republican group had stood by the flags until the early hours of the morning, but woke up the next day to find that the vandals had returned to remove a further 50 flags.

“When we confronted them, those cowards got away as fast as they possibly could,” the group added.

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