By Jonathan D. Silver
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PITTSBURGH — Donna Best had just gotten her buggy and wheeled it into the Giant Eagle on Settlers Ridge in Robinson this morning when she got a call that caused her to bolt from the store.
The Law Enforcement Officers Memorial on Pittsburgh’s North Shore had been vandalized.
For Ms. Best, president of the memorial, it was the second time this year that vandals had struck the black granite marker. The first time in May, someone whacked at the memorial with what she imagines was a crowbar, knocking out several chunks. That was repaired.
On Friday morning, it was pink spray paint with the letters “ACAB,” which Ms. Best said are the initials of a derogatory term directed at police.
“Total disrespect to law enforcement officers,” Ms. Best said. “ACAB — that’s a coward’s comment.”
Within a short time of being notified, the city’s graffiti clean-up crew, which was already working Downtown, responded and managed to scrub off the offensive acronym by using paint remover and rags.
“It’s cleaned up,” said Guy Costa, Pittsburgh’s chief operations officer. “It was easy to remove.”
Mr. Costa got the call about the graffiti around 9:30 a.m. It was removed within a half hour, he said.
“I want to thank the City of Pittsburgh for how quickly they responded and what a great job they did cleaning up. It was still wet when I got there from the water,” Ms. Best said.
Ms. Best has a vested interest in keeping the memorial spick and span. She was a 35-year veteran of the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, retiring as a commander, and her husband’s name is etched on it. James R. Milcarek, a sheriff’s office sergeant, was killed in an on-duty car crash in 1983.
Pittsburgh police confirmed that the graffiti incident is under investigation. Detectives are checking to see if surveillance cameras in the area captured any useful footage.