LONGVIEW, Wash. – Thieves stole the monument of an Afghan War soldier, along with eight others from Lake Sacajawea Park over the weekend.
Mikayla Bragg served in Afghanistan and took her own life in that country in December 2011.
The city of Longview honored her service with a plaque that was dedicated in April 2012. The touching ceremony included poetry, prayers, eulogies and the singing of the national anthem by the Mark Morris High choir, according a report in the Longview Daily News.
The memorial plaque reads:
"The city of Longview honors the life of Mikayla "Kayla" Anne Bragg. A motor transport operator for the Third Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division of the U.S. Army serving in Afghanistan, and recognize her courage, devotion and unselfish sacrifice to our nation. June 9, 1990 - December 21, 2011."
Her father Steve Bragg has been circulating images of the plaque via social media, hoping to find what he suspects were scrap metal thieves.
"Whoever did this is the pond scum at the bottom of the earth," he told the Daily News.