The Freedom Tower

From www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com:
Recovering the remains of Firefighter Peter Bielfeld in the ruins of the World Trade Center took nearly a year. Desecrating his memory took only a callous vandal and a can of spray paint, the writers on this blog say.
The Daily News revealed the disgusting act of disrespect Tuesday — and is adding $5,000 to the NYPD’s reward for the arrest and conviction of the graffiti vandal who defaced the memorial mural to the FDNY hero.
The 9/11 victim’s outraged father Tuesday compared the aerosol assault in the Bronx to desecrating his son’s tombstone.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Ernest Bielfeld, who worked as a Daily News paper handler for 40 years. “There’s no reason to do something like that.”
The News’ contribution boosts the NYPD reward to $5,750 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the hoodlum. Bronx artist Eddie Rodriguez spent two weeks creating the mural, which featured Peter Bielfeld, an American flag and the twin towers.
The vandal’s tag — “SIPS” — was sprayed directly over Bielfeld’s face.
“I was really hurt that somebody would desecrate something sacred like that,” Rodriguez said yesterday. “Someone had no regard for someone else’s life and what they pursued.”
The mural was painted outside a bodega where the 19-year FDNY veteran regularly bought cigars. Bielfeld had an unlit cigar in his mouth on the morning of 9/11 when he wrote a goodbye note to his family and headed to the World Trade Center.