Update: Statues Vandalized at Legion Hall

America's national symbol was destroyed by vandals outside of American Legion Post 1066 early Friday morning, police said.

Hoodlums smashed a bald eagle statue that stood in front of the post just two days before the  Fourth of July holiday and moved a second eagle statue off of a concrete pedestal, according to Jack Hipp, the Post's commander.

"To do something like this is like knocking  tombstones down in a graveyard," he said. "My membership and myself are outraged by this."

The vandalism took place at 1:45 a.m. at the post on Veteran's Boulevard. The eagle that was destroyed was knocked onto the sidewalk along with a sign advertising support services for troubled veterans.

Hipp said he was notified by police about 30 minutes later. He was told a witness on the LIRR platform across from the post saw two men committing the crime.

Police said a vandal fled on foot north near Parkside Boulevard. Cops are checking surveillance cameras in the area to see if the act was caught on tape.

The white eagle statues stood on columns on each side of a pathway to a veteran's memorial garden that was built at the post in 2000.

"It was dedicated by Governor Pataki," Hipp said. "It's for veterans of all wars. It's a place where people can come and sit peacefully and think. We have all types of people who come down. We have kids from schools who've come down to write reports on it."

The garden includes a Christmas tree that stays lit throughout the year and will remain that way until troops return from Iraq and Afghanistan. It was not damaged.

Hipp says he's not sure what should be done to the vandals if they're caught. 

"It depends on who they are," he said.  "If they were being stupid I hope they're feeling some remorse."

He noted that some teens were seen hanging out in the nearby Massapequa Preserve hours before the incident and the damage might have been done by some misguided youths. 

But Hipp, a former NYPD Detective and Vietnam era veteran, also said that if the vandals had done similar acts in the past, "They should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

Members of the post were also outraged. 

"Of all the things they had to knock over, they had to pick an American Eagle," said John Huhn,  "The youth of today doesn't respect what people did for them in the past."

"It's a disgrace with the holiday is coming up," said Denis Hill, a past post chaplain. "But it's a disgrace any day. I don't think these people knew the significance of what they were doing. We have to honor our dead."

Hipp said he hopes it was an isolated incident, noting that more then 200 people came to the post on Flag Day to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

"That's the way the community is, and I hope it stays that way."