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For the last 13 years, a simple metal sign on a telephone pole has marked the spot where a Delaware police officer was stabbed to death.

That sign, on a residential street in the Penn Acres neighborhood near New Castle, reads, “Never Forgotten. Always Remembered” in honor of New Castle County Police Lt. Joseph Sczerba. The plaque says Szczerba “gave his life to protect” residents of Delaware’s largest county.

Down the block, a county park is named for Sczerba, who was 44 when a man using “bath salts” drugs took his life. Szczerba had responded with other officers to a late-night report of a man who had broken into cars and stabbed one victim. He chased the suspect and caught him, but was killed while trying to take him into custody.

Over Labor Day weekend, someone defaced the sign with words that a police spokesman calls “very obscene.” With maroon spray paint, the vandal wrote “PIG” and “ASS” and crossed out the words on the sign with a large X.

Someone saw the vandalism and contacted police Monday. Detectives are investigating and trying to determine a motive.

While the crime appears to be misdemeanor criminal mischief, a relatively minor offense, the vandal’s act has infuriated police, especially since it occurred a couple of weeks before the 13th anniversary of Szczerba’s killing. His killer is serving a life sentence.

“It’s very unsettling,’’ said Sr. Cpl. Richard Chambers, the county police spokesman, singling out the words the vandal used.

“Not only are you doing something against us, but you’re also disparaging his family, as well. It’s very inappropriate what happened and very obscene, is what it was.”

SAO PAULO, Brazil − The Eagles held a press conference for Brazilian media members Thursday, featuring some of their key players like quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley.

But it was Eagles’ third-string quarterback Tanner McKee, who has never played a down in an NFL game, who stole the proverbial show.

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McKee was already well known in Brazil because he spent nearly two years in the South American country, from 2018-20, on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints.

He became fluent in Portuguese during that time. And it made the media’s day when McKee took a question in Portuguese from a reporter, then answered in Portuguese, then translated it into English, even though the NFL had supplied a translator.

This is how the exchange went after the question came in:

McKee said to the crowd of about 50 media members: “You want me to do it in Portuguese?”

The translator said the question in English: “Basically, we wanted (to know what it’s like) to be back in Brazil again and be back here after years of living here.”

McKee responded: “So you want me to say it in Portuguese and you’ll translate it? I can translate for myself.”

After a long answer in Portuguese, McKee says in English: “It’s great to be back.”

Then there was a long pause for effect, followed by laughter, before McKee continued: “It’s pretty fun because I always try to keep up with my Portuguese. I try to say things on Whatsapp or Instagram with people that I’ve met and had friendships with down here.

“But it’s different (today) because we can actually talk to someone face to face. I have family that’s here. My wife’s here. My parents are here. And they’re going to Rio and places that I lived and served in … So it’s really fun to just kind of be back in the culture.”

McKee was asked another question in Portuguese about some players’ fears about crime in Brazil, which has been reported over the past week. And if McKee has talked to those players to allay their fears.

Again, McKee answered in Portuguese, then translated for himself: “I was just saying, a lot of guys haven’t been here before, so it’s a lot of things they don’t really know. So they’re asking me, ‘How’s the crime rate? How’s this?’ We have a lot of things that we do whenever we travel to any city: We’re going to have to be safe. We’re not going to walk out on the street, whether we’re in the United States or outside of the United States.

“It’s not necessarily specific to here. It’s just a) people don’t really know the culture, and b) it is a big city … The people are great. The (players) are excited for the game. There’s nothing to be scared of. It’s pretty cool.”

The Brazilian media also asked McKee a football question, about what the offense will look like under new coordinator Kellen Moore.

And here, McKee provided some clues for what the offense might look like Friday night.

“A lot of pre-snap motion, a lot of changing things on defense,” he said. “I think it is more quarterback friendly of just being able to go through progressions. I think with football, we have a lot of good players, and you don’t want to slow down by having to think too much.

“You just want to go out and play fast, and have a kind of clean edge and go out and play. I think that’s kind of what they’re giving us this year – go out and play football, let’s not over-complicate things … We’re going to run what we run. I’m just excited to see it, and I’m just as excited for you guys to see AJ (Brown) and (DeVonta Smith) and Jalen and Saquon go do their thing.”

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline. Follow on X @Mfranknfl, on Threads and Instagram @martinfrank1.

A Delaware man was arrested and charged nearly 30 years after the death of his girlfriend, whose body was discovered in a Florida canal in 1996, officials announced Wednesday.

Stephen L. Ford, 72, was taken into custody near his home in Georgetown, Delaware, on Aug. 16 on a warrant for second-degree murder with a weapon in connection with the death of Doris A. Korell, authorities in Florida said.

He was extradited and booked into the Manatee County jail in Florida on Aug. 30. Attorney information was not available for him.

According to Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office, Ford stated that his “past has come up to haunt me” after his arrest.

Korell, 45, was found dead on Dec. 15, 1996. The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said the body, which went unidentified for a year, was discovered floating in a drainage canal, according to a news release.

A medical examiner said the body had been stabbed 83 times and had trauma on the neck and face, the release says.

Due to a lack of physical evidence and leads, the case went cold. Detectives in Manatee County were also unaware at the time that police in St. Petersburg had been searching for Korell, who vanished following a fight with Ford.

Korell’s daughter had reported her missing after Ford allegedly told her that Korell had gone shopping after the pair got into an argument.

Korell’s vehicle was later found at a local mall. Investigators now believe Ford parked it there “and wiped it down,” the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said. Korell’s belongings had been kept in a storage unit that was kept secret from her daughter.

During the initial investigation, Ford attempted suicide and made troubling statements, the sheriff’s office said. In an alleged suicide note addressed to his two sons, Ford described how he wanted to be with Korell if she was dead, the news release states. He also allegedly told detectives, “If I killed her, I should get the death penalty.”

Ford, however, denied his involvement in Korell’s disappearance or death and eventually moved to Delaware.

In 2017, the case was reopened and new information came to light.

“Acquaintances of Doris said she feared Stephen Ford and the troubled couple were having domestic and financial problems,” the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said.

Cold case detectives also noted that Ford’s behavior early on in the investigation “showed a clear pattern of consciousness of guilt,” the release states.

The sheriff’s office said that “evidence obtained in this investigation, including Ford’s deliberate actions and statements to mislead law enforcement and ultimately his attempts to commit suicide” are probable cause that he killed Korell.

“Cold cases are some of the most difficult crimes to crack,” State Attorney General Ashley Moody said in a statement Wednesday. “The defendant is correct when he said after his arrest, ‘my past has come up to haunt me.’ My office and our partners will continue to seek justice for Doris Korell.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com