POST FALLS - When Shawn Lenon drove by the Post Falls American Legion Wednesday morning, he was sickened by what he saw.

The M60 tank and personnel carrier on display at the Legion, reminders of America's war past, had been tagged by graffiti.

"Absolutely no respect," said the Post Falls man, who has a brother-in-law fighting in Afghanistan. "It's ridiculous."

The incident occurred either after a spaghetti fundraiser for the Prairie American Legion baseball team at the Legion on Tuesday night or sometime early Wednesday morning.

Legion Commander John Dunlap said he was called about the incident by a passerby on Wednesday morning.

"It hurts," Dunlap said. "We try to do a lot for the community, and someone pulls this. These kids ... you never know what they're going to do next when they get high on something."

Dunlap said the war memorials are owned by the federal government, not the Legion, but the Legion will likely be the organization that cleans the mess up.

"We'll have to repaint them," he said.

Among the words tagged on the equipment were "War Pig." An American white star was painted over and other graffiti was painted on the memorials.

Lenon called the vandalism "disgusting."

"If my kids did it, I'd make them go down there right away," he said.

In addition to supporting veterans and their families, the Legion assists youth baseball teams, hosts a Boy Scout troop and offers community events.

The Legion has displayed the Vietnam-era tank for 14 years, including when the nonprofit was located on Highway 41 and in recent years along Poleline Avenue. The personnel carrier has been on display for about three years.

The parking lot of the Legion is lit at night and Poleline is a major road.

Dunlap said that, other than occasionally having to shoo kids away from climbing on the equipment, no one has messed with the displays.

He didn't have a damage estimate and has called on government officials to assess the damage.

Those with information are urged to call Post Falls police at 773-3517 or leave a tip at postfallspolice.com.