(Gazette Photo by John Ruch) A sign bearing a star-and-crescent Islamic symbol that was part of the marathon bombing victims memorial.
The makeshift memorial to Boston Marathon bombing victims in Monument Square, partly by bombing rescue hero Carlos Arredondo, was removed on May 6, apparently by its creators.
The memorial had some changes over its two weeks of existence, including the addition of an Islamic symbol that reportedly was vandalized.
The memorial honored the three people killed in the bombings as well as a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer who was later killed, allegedly by the bombers. It also included other messages of peace, love and patriotism. It was created on April 22 by Arredondo, a famous peace activist who aided victims of the bombing on the scene, and activist Sage Radachowsky.
The memorial briefly included a sign honoring dead bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev before the two creators had a disagreement and removed it, as the Gazette previously reported. That sign was topped with a star-and-crescent symbol often associated with Islam. Tsarnaev was a Muslim.
Later, a new sign was added, also bearing the Islamic symbol along with a message of religious tolerance and peace. That sign was later torn down, according to Radachowsky, who attributed the vandalism to Gazette publicity.
Shortly after, a new, sturdier version of the Islamic peace sign was added. It included a carved wood sign reading, “Peace be upon us all.”
Also added during the memorial’s brief existence was a large sign thanking Arredondo for creating it and a sign remembering Karl Fisher, a Jamaica Plain art teacher who died suddenly in February.