MERIDEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Meriden police are asking for the public’s help to find who plowed over the city’s World War I memorial, leaving the names of hundreds of service members mangled on the ground.

“Hit my brothers and sisters. That’s part of the family sitting on that wall right now, and it hurts,” said Meriden Polish Legion American Veterans Commander James Marut. “They took off, that’s another disgrace.”

The monument is located near the intersection of East Main Street and Broad Street. The monument was driven over at some point overnight Thursday and into Friday, knocking it over, police said.

“It is disgraceful,” said Bob Williams Jr., a Meriden councilor and army veteran. The tire marks can still be seen Friday night.

A Facebook post from the city shows the extensive damage. In a video, Mayor Kevin Scarpati calls it a “heinous act” and asks anyone with surveillance photo to contact police.

“Our parks crews are going to be here throughout the day to make sure that we can salvage whatever we can and erect our monument to honor our vets,” Scarpati said.

According to police, a headlight left behind at the scene is from a white Ford F150 made between 2018 and 2020.

The vehicle would have driven off south on Broad Street toward Wallingford, police determined.

“They do have a vehicle of interest that is identified. They are still investigating that,” Scarpati said. “It is completely and utterly disgusting that someone could not only hit and destroy a monument but also be gutless and take off.”

Veteran James Marut and the volunteer group Friends of the Meriden Monument regularly clean the memorial and others nearby.

“I was in shock. We take care of it. I know the people of Meriden love it,” Marut said.

City officials agree the nearly 100-year-old monument is important to Meriden, bearing the name of every World War I veteran who sacrificed their life for this country.

“Looking at those names on the ground, it was as though our veterans were laying there helpless,” Scarpati said.

“It hits anyone hard to desecrate anything that has to do with people who served our country honorably, especially those who gave their life,” Williams Jr. said.

The bronze monument, erected in 1930, contained six brass panels with the veteran’s names. Scarpati said the city’s Department of Public Works has all the pieces and is now looking to rebuild as quickly as possible.

“We are going to do everything in our power to not only find who it was that caused that damage but also that we erect that in such honor that we did 100 years ago,” Scarpati said.

The mayor said they are looking for a specialized manufacturer to help them repair and reinstall the monument in the same place.

Anyone with any information on the incident is asked to call police Detective Jad Hadir at (203) 630-6250.