Woman arrested after Veterans Memorial statue in South Carolina is destroyed, peed on: Police

A 50-year-old woman is facing felony criminal charges after police in southeast South Carolina say she vandalized a Veterans Memorial statue.

The damage took place Thursday in the city of Bluffton, a town in Beaufort County along the state’s coast near Brighton Beach.

According to Bluffton Police Department Sgt. Bonifacio Perez, officers responded at 9:30 a.m. to Buckwalter Veterans Park after two people told officers they watched a person knock over the Veterans Memorial statue and urinate on it.

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‘Malicious injury to property’

The woman was booked into the Beaufort County jail on charges of malicious injury to property and indecent exposure.

As of Friday, sheriff’s office online records showed she remained jailed.

A motive in the crime was not immediately known by police.

“The suspect was not forthcoming with information,” Perez told USA TODAY on Friday.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.

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