A London man is hoping to find a historical piece stolen from a war memorial he erected near the Hale-Trafalgar roundabout.
The memorial was a way to pay tribute to war heroes and those who lost their lives serving their country.
It was near the Charley Fox memorial in a greenspace on Trafalgar Street.
Now it has been vandalized again and a 1942 helmet stolen.
“With what happened with the two soliders being killed in Canada, we just can't forget our soldiers. What they did with their lives is what we have today,” says Larry Laur.
He made a cross, a wooden replica gun and attached a helmet use in World War II to the memorial.
Laur has been looking for the helmet for the past two days.
“Some person, either they have a grudge...or (are) immature. Wrecked it once and now they stole it this time.”
Neighbours in the area had been keeping an eye on the memorial. In fact, a man across the road is the one who found the helmet the first time it went missing.
“I live across the street and I noticed it was down and missing so I came over and found it tucked in behind the hill. So I ended up putting it back on top for him and tried to show some respect for the area,” says Leroy Seaton.
In 2011, the Charley Fox memorial was defaced less than 24 hours after it was put there.
Neighbours say it's frustrating that people are disrespecting veterans, but hope that in this case, the war helmet will somehow resurface.
“Somebody out there knows the person that took that helmet,” Laur says.
In the meantime, Laur is making a new replica gun and is looking for another helmet.
He wants to keep the memorial where it is in hopes that the city will place a permanent one in the same spot in 2017 for the 100th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge.
