Milwaukee officers clean up vandalism at War Memorial

MILWAUKEE -- Two Milwaukee police officers, Juan Lopez and Glenn Podlesnik, discovered and cleaned up graffiti on the World War II Memorial at S. 8th St. and W. Windlake Ave.

The officers are veterans themselves, and say they discovered some other disrespectful things at the site of the memorial dedicated a year before D-Day.

"Saw that it had been graffiti'd. We're both veterans and it kind of hit a little bit home there -- the men and women that served our great nation during WWII but gave their lives for it," Officer Lopez said.

The officers grabbed some graffiti remover and cleaned it up themselves. Meanwhile, they discovered the memorial site needed more picking up.

"It's a community poop yard -- is what it is," one neighbor said.

"Some concerned citizens came up to us and told us it has been a problem," Officer Podlesnik said.

The officers took pictures at the site and contacted Alderman Jose Perez who agreed the site needed work. 

"Adding some life to the memorial -- maybe some lighting, but we're going to expect our neighbors to keep an eye on it," Alderman Perez said.

"Either sod or some mulch so that it's welcoming and doesn't always become a distraction," Nancy Bush with the Business Improvement District said.

Alderman Perez didn't specify whether the restoration of the WWII Memorial site would be paid for by private or public donations. However, Alderman Perez said the facelift would possibly attract new business opportunities to the area of 8th and Windlake.