World War II items

(CNN) – The Iwo Jima memorial sits along the water in Fall River. Its presence, dominating.

Someone within the last week took something very special. Surrounded by bricks with the names of donors who support the memorial there is a plexiglass box. Now, broken open and empty. It used to hold a purple heart, and a vial of sand from Iwo Jima.

Bruce Aldrich, Commandant, Marine Corps League said, “If you see something don’t walk away just walk over to the car and call the police, or if you see somebody doing something take a quick picture, you never know, we could get something out of that picture if you take a picture.”

Bruce Aldrich helps maintain the memorial. Once a month he climbs up to inspect the lights.

Aldrich: “Check them to make sure they’re not burnt out, check them to see if they’re not broken by people which the last time we went up there we found a couple that were broken. Why they get up there and smash them, I have no idea.”

It didn’t take long after word spread about the missing purple heart for another recipient to offer his as a replacement.

Aldrich: “He also took a trip to Iwo Jima and he has some sand and he’s going to give us a vial of sand to put back in there and hopefully we can get a thicker cover placed on top of that plexiglass to make it harder to break.”