FARMINGDALE -- A new stone monument honoring the community's veterans will be dedicated at a morning ceremony on Memorial Day.

Vandals destroyed the original monument nearly a year ago.

After vandals spray-painted graffiti on the original memorial on Labor Day 2007, a town committee led by Sandy Choate determined to replace it with a new one.

The damage caused consternation for town residents, especially veterans, Choate said.

She said she hopes the new memorial will help heal some of those wounds.

"People need to be aware that we've moved ahead," Choate said.

Volunteers attempted to scrub away the graffiti, but cleaning the paint from the porous granite was not possible, so the memorial had to be replaced, Farmingdale War Memorial Committee member Jim Keenan said.

"We ended up replacing the entire monument," he said.

Two local teenage boys were charged in connection with the damage, police said.

"The replacement cost was somewhere in the neighborhood of $18,000, which was pretty much covered by our insurance, thank goodness," Keenan said.

The original memorial used bronze plaques mounted on a granite tablet, he said.

The new monument is entirely granite, with the names of Farmingdale veterans from World War I to the Persian Gulf conflict etched directly into the stone.

Both stones are about 5 feet high and 12 feet long, Keenan said.

"It's a little different from the original. Instead of bronze plaques, the stone itself is engraved," Keenan said. "It's almost impossible to find anyone to do that type of work (in bronze) anymore, and it's very expensive."

With the replacement of the memorial, committee members took the opportunity to make some corrections and to add names of other eligible veterans not listed on the original.

The new design will also ease the addition of future veterans' names, he said.

"We have not put anything on there beyond the Persian Gulf, but there is room to add names," Keenan said. "When the dust settles on Iraq and Afghanistan, I'm sure there will be a number of names we'll have to add."

Any veteran living in Farmingdale at the time they entered military service is eligible to be listed on the monument, he said.

The Memorial Day re-dedication will be an expanded version of the ceremony put on each year in five locations in Gardiner, Randolph, Pittston and Farmingdale by Gardiner's American Legion Smith-Wiley Post 4, he said.

The ceremony is scheduled at 8:30 a.m., May 26, at the Town Office.

Sen. Earle McCormick, R-West Gardiner, a retired U.S. Air Force meteorologist, is scheduled to speak, Keenan said. Selectman Roger Mallar will conduct the service.

Efforts have been made to avoid future vandalism problems, Keenan said.

"We put up a flood light and the monument has been sealed with a type of chemical. And while it won't prevent vandalism, hopefully will make it easier to clean," Keenan said.

Committee members hope the public will show their support.

"On Memorial Day, we encourage anybody -- but especially veterans and town folks -- to come to honor the people whose names are on the monument," Keenan said.

Gary Remal -- 621-5642

gremal@centralmaine.com