PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A Portsmouth family has had enough after their father’s memorial was vandalized at Olive Branch Cemetery for the third time.

The Farmer family lost their father in 1998. He was a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and they had his ashes buried at sea. Two years later in 2000, they paid to have a memorial bench placed at Friendship Park next to the cemetery. After it was damaged and repaired twice over the years what they found this past Memorial Day, they say, is the last straw.

A gold and black iron bench overlooks the adjacent graves at Olive Branch cemetery. Once a site of reflection, it now only brings the Farmer family pain.

“You can’t imagine. You just can’t imagine,” said Jeanne Farmer Swain.

There are burn marks from someone using the memorial bench to grill food, chipped paint from a knife used to carve graffiti and, as of this week, a missing brass plaque.

“It’s just somebody vile that can do something like that,” Swain stated.

Swain visits her father’s bench that overlooks her mother’s and little sister’s graves once a month.

“We put some flags at the base of the bench like we always do and when we came here and rounded the corner we found that the plaque was gone,” Swain recalled.

Her father’s bench wasn’t the only one in Friendship Park without a brass plaque. All the benches had their plaques stolen.

“We think it’s for scrap. I can’t imagine that would be worth more than $10 if it was scrapped,” Swain explained.

Swain and her siblings are devastated that their father’s memory was once again desecrated and can’t come up with a solution to prevent the vandals from striking a fourth time as watchful neighbors and security have increased at City Park and Olive Branch cemetery over the years.

“This is the only thing I have,” Swain said. “Honestly what can the city do? So I told him we want the bench back. If they can’t ensure that it’s protected and honored then we’re going to take it back.”

Swain told 10 On Your Side she doesn’t blame the city for what happened as the park and cemetery have greatly improved over the years. She’s frustrated with society and the lack of respect for memorials. Her family will be removing the bench from the park this coming Monday and will once again restore it before relocating it to the Coast Guard base in Portsmouth.