PLAQUE COULD HAVE BEEN STOLEN AS HATE CRIME

KCBS, CA
Oct 8 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — A plaque taken from the foot of the Mount
Davidson cross could have been stolen as a hate crime, according to
the Council of Armenian-American Organizations of Northern California.

The memorial was in honor of the victims of the Armenian genocide,
where as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed between 1915 and
1917. It went missing September 23.

"One of our members went up in a routine maintenance and it was
discovered that this plaque, which is three feet by four feet and
weighs something under 200 pounds, was gone," said Council Chairman
Chuck Paskerian.

Volunteers searching for the plaque over the weekend came up empty
handed. Paskerian said whoever stole the plaque had one of two possible
motives. Either they wanted to sell the metal, or they were angry
about what the piece represented.

"The metal aspect of it, police feel is limited because it’s not very
accessible. It’s at the top of Mount Davidson, it requires quite a
climb to get up there, and this particular piece, which is very heavy
and awkward, is worth only approximately $200 in the metal market,"
explained Pakerian. "Right at the time this was stolen, they were
celebrating the anniversary of Armenia and on October 10th in the
U.S. Congress a resolution is being proposed to recognize the Armenian
genocide, and the Turkish government is very much opposed to this."

The Turkish government has refused to acknowledge that the mass
killings were genocide.