GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. – A juvenile confessed to vandalizing a monument in Spring Park in Green Cove Springs that is dedicated to U.S. service members who were killed in action, the Green Cove Springs Police Department announced Thursday.
The monument was damaged several weeks ago, and the repairs cost the city of Green Cove Springs about $300, the department said.
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After the police department posted photos of the vandalism to social media, the juvenile confessed to striking and damaging the monument. The juvenile’s father is a veteran himself, police said, and his parents fully cooperated with the investigation.
Because of their cooperation, which included agreeing to reimburse the city for the repair costs, and the juvenile’s confession, the department opted to charge him with misdemeanor criminal mischief instead of damage to a monument memorializing the dead, which is a felony in Florida.
The boy will also be trespassed from Spring Park for a year because he committed a crime in the park, police said.
“The Green Cove Springs Police Department would like to thank everyone who provided information to us when we solicited information from the community,” the department wrote in a social media post. “The GCSPD values the trusting relationships we have with community members and feels that the community worked as a team to solve this crime.”