A 17-year-old boy is facing 11 felony counts of vandalism and one misdemeanor count of trespassing after a spree of spraying red paint all over Plymouth Rock and several other sites in the historic Massachusetts community, police said Thursday.
The suspect's name was not released because he is a juvenile, but police chief Michael Botieri did say he is a resident of the town, which this year is marking the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims' arrival.
On February 17, Plymouth Rock, the National Monument to the Forefathers and the Plymouth Maiden statue were found defaced with the number and letter combination 508 MOF tagged.
Plymouth Rock symbolizes the spot where the Mayflower Pilgrims disembarked in December 1620.
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The iconic Plymouth Rock and other sites were covered in red graffiti on February 17 during a vandalism spree discovered at the site marking the landing of the Pilgrims 400 years ago
The photo above from February 17 shows the vandalized Plymouth Rock, the landmark which represents the spot where the first pilgrims landed 400 years ago
The Plymouth Rock landmark is seen in the above file photo from November 2018
The teen is also charged with damage to a memorial bench in Brewster Gardens, a memorial stone and concrete slab at the entrance to the harbor jetty, the waterfront bandstand, a town map in Shirley Square and four Scallop Roll statues.
The suspect was identified by detectives who reviewed hours of surveillance video from the area, the Plymouth police chief said.
The vandalism charges carry three years in prison and a $1,500 fine. Charges related to historical landmarks are lesser than those on war monuments or veteran memorials.
He will appear in juvenile court.
Botieri told The Patriot Ledger the teen offered no explanation for the graffiti or what was written.
'He eventually cooperated, but never gave a good reason why he spray painted,' Botieri said.
The vandalism has since been cleaned up.
Another monument at the site is seen above on February 17 after it was vandalized
Hours later, the monument was scrubbed down and the graffiti was removed
The above image shows crude graffiti spray painted on the National Monument to the Forefathers, a 120-year-old statue that commemorates the Mayflower Pilgrims
The vandalized monument was then scrubbed down and the graffiti was removed before noon
Botieri added that the February 17 vandalism spree is not connected to vandalism of the town's 9/11 Memorial discovered last Sunday.
The memorial, which was constructed in 2004, is a six-foot high pillar of granite upon which the names of those killed in the attacks are engraved.
On either side stand statues of a firefighter and police officer but the discovery on Sunday found that the statue of a police officer had been knocked over and was broken.
Some 25 firefighters came out to remove the offensive markings and restore the memorial and by Monday there were no signs that the memorial had ever been touched.
'They can knock us down, but we will always get back up even stronger,' the fire department tweeted.
The memorial was funded by Plymouth resident Dick Quintal who had to take out a second mortgage to fund the project. He was said to be 'heartbroken' at seeing the damage
The police officer statue had been knocked over but the firefighter was still standing
The town's 9/11 memorial was 'desecrated by vandals' according to the town's fire department
The destruction at the memorial was the eighth time in less than a week that the Plymouth community had been targeted as it looks forward to commemorating the 400th anniversary of the pilgrims.
'What the vandals are doing is heinous,' Plymouth's Town Manager Melissa Arrighi told CNN.
'Between the 9/11 memorial and Plymouth Rock, there is no excuse and there is no reason for this.
'Our firefighters jumped to action almost immediately,' she added. 'When something bad occurs, the residents and community jump in.
'I can't thank everybody enough for the outpouring of concern, outrage, support and offers to help,' she continued.
Plymouth Rock sits in Pilgrim Memorial State Park on the waterfront in an isolated area. It is a small piece of a larger rock that once stood in the place where the Pilgrims landed.
The rock has come to symbolize the spot where William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims disembarked before founding Plymouth Colony in December 1620.
Police said the vandals also targeted a Scallop Roll seashell-shaped sign celebrating the upcoming 400th anniversary of the 1620 Mayflower landing.
Vandals also defaced a Scallop Roll sign celebrating the upcoming 400th anniversary of the spot where Pilgrims disembarked in 1620 before founding Plymouth Colony
Vandals also spray painted graffiti on The Pilgrim Maiden, a bronze statue erected in 1922 in honor of the women of Plymouth’s founding families. The image on the right is the same statue
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Most of the graffiti was indecipherable though local officials say some of it contained anti-police messages.
No one knows what the tags the teenager used mean, but 508 is an area code used in Plymouth.
Speculation online has delved into whether it relates to a local gang, with 'MOF' being an abbreviation for 'mof***a'.
It is possibly a reference to climate change issues.
'508 MOF (metal organics frameworks)' can also refer to a new process that could revolutionize the way carbon dioxide is extracted from the atmosphere, potentially saving a significant amount of money for power plants.
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It was not immediately clear if this graffiti incident had any connection to the anniversary celebration, but Plymouth Rock has been the site of political demonstrations before.
United American Indians of New England holds the solemn remembrance on every Thanksgiving Day since 1970 there to recall what organizers describe as 'the genocide of millions of native people, the theft of native lands and the relentless assault on native culture.'
The United States is preparing to commemorate the moment the Mayflower made its historic crossing from the U.K. to Plymouth, Massachusetts 400 years ago. Pictured above is a replica of the Mayflower that underwent renovations for the historic anniversary
The arrival of the British Pilgrims all those centuries ago had a devastating impact on the Native Americans who have inhabited Massachusetts for 12,000 years
Four centuries on, the United States is now preparing to commemorate the moment the Mayflower made its historic crossing from the U.K.
The Pilgrims' landing at Plymouth, Massachusetts and the subsequent interactions between the British and the Wampanoag tribe significantly shaped the birth of America.
The Mayflower Pilgrims were significant to American history for a number of reasons, including establishing the New World, a founding documents and the tradition of Thanksgiving.
But the arrival of the British Pilgrims all those centuries ago had a devastating impact on the Native Americans - the effects of which are still held today - who have inhabited Massachusetts for 12,000 years.
MAIN EVENTS FOR 400TH COMMEMORATIONS
April 24: Plymouth 400 commemoration opening ceremony at Plymouth's Memorial Hall.
June 27-28: Official maritime salute in Plymouth Harbor including replica ship that carried Pilgrims in 1620.
August 1: A Wampanoag Ancestors Walk to honor the original 69 villages of the Nation, which is now known as Massachusetts.
September 14: A State House Ceremony at Massachusetts State House will honor the Pilgrim forefathers and Native people who are immortalized in the historic founding of Plymouth Colony.
September 19: A huge Embarkation Festival is scheduled to take place on the Plymouth waterfront that will honor the traditions, cuisine and music of the original settlers and the Wampanoag people.
October 29-November 1: A conference at Bridgewater State University will address the legacy of colonization experienced by Wampanoag and other Native people.
November 20-25: Series of events in Plymouth in the lead up to the Thanksgiving holiday.
<!- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/news/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 - ->AdvertisementThe 400th anniversary commemorations have been years in the making with a replica Mayfair ship undergoing million dollar restorations in anticipation for the events.
The non-profit, Plymouth 400 Inc., was established back in 2011 and has been planning the American commemorations of the Mayflower voyage and the founding of the Plymouth colony.
Those planning the U.S. commemorations have also been working in conjunction with the U.K and the Wampanoag tribe to plan the historic events.
There are seven main events being held from April through to November that range from a replica voyage and an ancestral walk to honor the Native tribes.
'In name, Plymouth 400 calls to mind a singular place but the history of Plymouth colony is integral to the founding of Massachusetts and the Nation,' said Dusty Rhodes, Plymouth, Massachusetts 400th Commission Chair.
'The cultural contributions and American traditions that began with the interaction of the Wampanoag and English peoples have significantly shaped the building of American and continue to provide lessons for our future.
'Further, the inclusion of the Native American perspective is one of the truly unique aspects of this commemoration as, historically, this perspective has been mishandled and misrepresented.'
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