THE iconic “PEACE” sign that can be seen on Freedom Drive in China Town was vandalized this past weekend but has been restored to its original state.
The family of former Sen. John “Morgen” P. Tenorio and wife Rita erected the sign after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S.
In an interview on Monday, they suspect that some of the “kids in the neighborhood” were responsible for the vandalism which probably occurred between Friday evening and Saturday morning.
The vandalizers used trash bags and taped them onto certain parts of the sign to spell out a different word.
“They came prepared,” Mr. Tenorio said.
He added that the zip ties used to secure the letters were missing and had to be replaced to secure the letters.
“When [this] happened, I just said to myself, ‘I hope to God that they find peace within themselves.’ I also hope that if the parents know about it, they’ll do something…. It’s sad because…a lot of people enjoy this sign,” Mr. Tenorio said.
He said those who vandalized the sign should “be respectful, especially when someone is trying to share a message of unity. That sign is about peace within ourselves and peace within families. That’s what that sign is for.”
SH3 to the rescue
Yogi Singh, Richard Fikkel and Melanie Ward, members of the Saipan Hash House Harriers who occasionally use the trail, were at the site at 11 a.m. on Monday to restore the sign, reinforcing it with zip ties.
“We went up just to see what needed to be done, and it just turned out to be basically a bunch of garbage bags and cardboard. So, we took them down,” Singh said.
“We wanted to make sure that it gets taken down immediately because I don’t want to give someone the satisfaction of leaving that there, so that’s why we acted that fast. At the end of the day, it’s a beautiful thing, and it should remain beautiful,” he added.
Singh said vandals should “stay away. There’s no need for anything like that. The amount of effort that they actually went to do that, I mean, use it somewhere else.”
Family member J.D. Tenorio said “we have no idea who vandalized it, but they were trespassers. We have ‘private property’ and ‘no trespassing’ signs displayed in the area,” he added..
As for the Saipan Hash House Harriers, “they are awesome people — thank you for coming up and restoring the sign.”
With Bryan Manabat
The island’s Hash Runners restore and reinforce the PEACE sign on Monday.
The iconic PEACE sign in China Town was vandalized this past weekend.
The reinforced PEACE sign was restored to its former state on Monday
