‘Mi Amigo’ memorial in Endcliffe Park damaged by group of vandals

Tony Foulds, aged 84, was devastated as he visited the site at Endcliffe Park on Saturday morning to find smashed plant pots and ripped up flags.

The 84-year-old has taken care of the memorial in the park ever since a US B-17 flying fortress aircraft named ‘Mi Amigo’ crash-landed in the woods 77 years ago after its engines failed.

Pilot Lt John Kriegshauser chose to crash land the plane into woodland next to Endcliffe Park, saving Tony Foulds and his friends who were children at the time – since then, Tony has dedicated his time to the upkeep of the memorial, believing he was responsible for the deaths of all ten crew members on board the plane.

Speaking about the vandalism, Mr Foulds said: “I’ve had things pinched before, but I’ve never had as much damage as what has been done today.”

“It’s affected me that much today that I haven’t even bothered to clean it.

“It’s pure vandalism. These things cost a lot of money. In the last couple of months, I’ve had two big fishing umbrellas pinched, and I’ve got one up now, but we’ve had to bolt it into place so people can’t pinch it. A lot of these people aren’t coming from the Endcliffe area; they’re coming from all over, so why have they picked on Endcliffe. I can’t understand it.”

Vandalism at the memorial is sadly not a rare occurrence, and in recent years it has been targeted several times – in 2019 it was defaced with obscene images.

BBCs, Dan Walker said on Twitter: “When the toe rags who vandalised the #MiAmigo memorial in the early hours finally wake up today I hope they are thoroughly ashamed & think about how they can repair the damage. Tony is devastated. They have smashed pots and ripped all the flags. Truly pathetic.”

The pensioner is now making a plea to Sheffield City Council in the hope of getting a camera installed at the site to stop similar incidents in the future.

He added: “What I need is a proper camera so that even if somebody does something, we can find out who it is.”