Marion memorial lamp destroyed by vandal

MARION - Someone vandalized the memorial of a Marion family's son, leaving them heartbroken.

A pole and a pile of pieces are all that remains of Todd Little's memorial lamp.

'It really upset my whole family and me,” said Mike Little, Todd's father.

Mike said the lamp was placed in Marion's Thomas Park, near the spot Todd collapsed April of 1999. Doctors believe the 19-year-old died of cardiac arrhythmia while running during track practice.

The lamp stood for about 16 years. Trees and floodwaters took it out four times. Wednesday night, it was a person.

'I feel pretty terrible,” Mike said. 'It's bad enough to deal with Mother Nature taking it out. Then you have our youth in Marion come down there and vandalize it. That's pretty hard to take.”

Danielle Palmer saw the whole thing. Around eight p.m. she was eating dinner at Thomas Park with her boyfriend. She saw three younger teenage kids near the lamp. One of them, she said, started kicking it.

'Shortly after about six kicks sparks started coming out of the top of the lamp post,” Palmer said. 'About ten feet tall into the air.”

The lamp was destroyed. Danielle said she was tempted to give the kids a piece of her mind. Instead, her boyfriend talked her into calling the police. The kids left before authorities could get there.

Personally, if these were my children, some words would have been said,” Palmer said. 'Among other things, probably.”

Mike spent all of Thursday putting the light back together. He said he's committed to getting it back where it belongs and relit by Friday evening.

Mike also hopes police find the person responsible, but not for punishment. Instead, he wants to tell the vandal how much this now dim eternal light means.

'I hope if they hear this and get the message that I hope they realize what they've done and how many people they've hurt by doing something stupid,” Mike said.