Theft At the Shanower Memorial

This is strange and a little sad. From a Chicago Tribune report:

Someone broke into the Sept. 11 memorial near Naperville City Hall and stole a piece of concrete that had been part of the Pentagon, police said.

The theft occurred Wednesday, police said.

Naperville CrimeStoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

The memorial honors victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, including Navy Cmdr. Dan Shanower, 40, a Naperville native who was one of 125 people who died at the Pentagon.

I encountered the Dan F. Shanower memorial in 2005 and took a few pictures which I used in a memorial day post.

Though presumably accurate, the story is slightly confusing because it makes it sound like the thief broke into a building to steal the pieces of the Pentagon when in fact the memorial is outside and in the open.

From the description, I think this is what they’re talking about:

The little clear boxes contain fragments from the Pentagon. I guess someone broke open one or more of the boxes and stole the chunks of concrete from inside.

I imagine it was just some kid screwing around, but with a front-page article in the Chicago Tribune, it’s probably drawing more heat than he expected.