Over the weekend, vandals honored National Peace Officers Memorial Day by pouring yellow paint over the Fraternal Order of Police Memorial at Amann Reservoir. However, Longstreth Memorials immediately stepped in to clean and restore the monument.

The family-owned, stone monument business hauled away the 2,700-pound FOP Memorial on May 16 and had it reinstalled by late afternoon. The paint was carefully scraped off and some surfaces of the monument were treated with chemicals.

“Luckily the paint did not get into the pores of the stone,” Sean Longstreth, owner of Longstreth Memorials, explained. "It's a shame this happened but getting the memorial back up and supporting our officers is the most important thing.”

Longstreth’s wife, Terri, saw a Facebook post about the damage on Sunday. They reached out to the Police Department to offer help. “I’m sad that it happened, but we’re happy to get the memorial back to better than it was before,” Terri said.

Members of the Galion Police Department stopped by the reservoir on Monday afternoon while the memorial was reinstalled.

“This is an unbelievably kind gesture to offer to restore the memorial to its original state. Longstreth Memorials is a local business that shows it’s invested in the community and willing to help out,” Police Chief Brian Saterfield said.

The business will also completely replace a separate monument that was chipped and cracked. The large canon, also located at the site, will be repainted and the bushes surrounding the site will be re-mulched.

The memorial is located on the east side of the reservoir, near State Route 309. It reads:
Dedicated to all peace officers by the Fraternal Order of Police Galion Lodge No. 71.
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.”
– St. Matthew 5:9

Anyone with information about the vandalism may call the Galion Police Department at 419-468-9111.