Police are asking for help in identifying the two people who defaced the graves of President Gerald R. Ford and first lady Betty Ford in Grand Rapids, Michigan, last week, according to KTLA sister station WXMI in Grand Rapids.
The incident happened around 4 p.m. last Wednesday, March 27, at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, city officials told the station.
Surveillance footage shows two people coming to the burial site on skateboards, then climbing atop the memorial wall and prying at metal letters marking the site.
Police said the couple successfully removed the letter “e” from “committed” off the wall that reads “Lives Committed to God, Country and Love.” The museum had to spend $400 to replace the stolen letter.
The museum hopes the suspects are found, because they see the incident as an extreme act of vandalism.
“The president and first lady are interred here; this is a presidential grave site,” said Joel Westphal, the museum’s deputy director. “There are not many presidential grave sites. We are one of only 14 presidential museums around the country.”
Westphal said he didn’t believe the Ford family has been notified of the vandalism yet, but that they would be soon.
The museum said it’s also looking into what legal action it can take against the perpetrators.
