New York Mayor Eric Adams reacted with anger and disgust Tuesday after anti-Israel protesters vandalized a World War I monument in New York City on Monday.
The 107th United States Infantry Memorial, located along Central Park on the Upper East Side, depicts seven U.S. Army soldiers in battle in September 1918, as they crossed the Hindenburg Line, the last and strongest of the German army's defenses.
On Monday, as anti-Israel protests took place in the area near Hunter College and the star-studded Met Gala, protesters placed pro-Palestinian stickers on the monument, spray-painted “Free Gaza” and burned the American flag at the place.
Adams, whose uncle died while serving in Vietnam at age 19, offered $5,000 of his own money to catch the vandals. NYPD Crime Stoppers is offering another $10,000 as a reward.
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Anti-Israel protesters vandalized a World War I monument in Central Park depicting the US 107th Infantry in battle. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
“We are going to treat this crime with the seriousness it deserves,” Adams said Tuesday in front of the monument. “I will not stand by while people desecrate the memorials of those who fought for democracy and human rights. The rights they (pro-Palestinian groups) are asking for.”
Video footage posted online shows a group of anti-Israel supporters placing a flag on the statue and using spray paint to defend Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Fox News Digital has reached out to several veterans groups for comment on the matter.
Anti-Israel protesters burned an American flag at the site of a World War I memorial. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
Officials noted that the monument is different from most others, which generally honor high-ranking military officers.
“This is a [monument] to the Doughboys,” said Zachary Iscol, commissioner of the city's Department of Emergency Management, who was referring to the nickname for troops under Army Gen. John Pershing's American Expeditionary Forces.
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The NYPD is searching for anti-Israel protesters allegedly responsible for vandalizing a World War I memorial in New York City. (NYPD)
In an online post, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a U.S. Army infantry officer, said that “terrorist sympathizers committed serious violations of the Veterans Memorial Preservation and Recognition Act.” by defacing this monument to the 107th Infantry.”
New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, who represents part of Queens, said a friend cleared the site of “Hamas propaganda” and planted American flags.
“He and another veteran sprang into action as soon as pictures emerged of what had happened here. Sadly, this is far from over,” he wrote online.
Three suspects are wanted for vandalism against a monument honoring a Civil War general. (NYPD)
The Veterans of Foreign Wars, an advocacy group with chapters across the country, pointed Fox News Digital to a May 1 statement regarding anti-Israel protests.
“The First Amendment to the Constitution grants the right to freedom of speech and to the people to peaceably assemble, the same rights that members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) swore to support and defend,” said VFW Commander in Chief . Duane Sarmiento. “We also support the rule of law in our country and those who work to defend it. Without them, segments of our population would have their rights violated.”
New York City police remove a Palestinian flag from the statue of General Sherman near Central Park. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
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Elsewhere on Monday night, protesters also placed a Palestinian flag on a statue honoring Union Army Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman near Central Park. NYPD officers arrived and blocked the crowd while an officer climbed a ladder to remove them.
The monument was also defaced with spray paint. Three suspects are wanted for that alleged act of vandalism.
