Within hours of discovering the damage, 45th Ward Alderman Jim Gardiner made sure to get the defaced billboard taken down, city leaders said. It has since been replaced.
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Last month, the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation placed 66 billboards throughout the city of Chicago to honor the men and women who serve and protect this city.
In a statement, the Foundation said they were saddened to hear "several of the billboards" had been defaced, including a billboard at LeClaire and Elston that featured Officer Jimenez, a beloved father and husband who died in 2018 responding to a shooting in Mercy Hospital.
RELATED | Mercy Hospital Shooting: 4 dead, including Chicago Officer Samuel Jimenez and gunman
41st Ward Ald. Anthony Napolitano said he was heartbroken when he saw the defaced billboard.
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"That was the wrong person for you to even come close to writing anything about, because he is the absolute pinnacle of what a police officer should be an actual hero," said Napolitano.
The Memorial Foundation called the destruction of these billboards "despicable" and called the individuals responsible "cowards."