PITTSBURGH — A World War I memorial in Pittsburgh’s Troy Hill neighborhood is back upright after police said a semi-truck knocked it over and left the scene.
A crew was working to reset the memorial in place after the crash. Neighbors said the truck also damaged vehicles parked along the street before striking the memorial.
“We guess the truck backed up down our street, scraped up a whole bunch of our cars going back,” Henry Pyatt said.
Pyatt said his car was among those damaged.
Neighbor Gary Grzandziel said he watched the truck head toward the memorial.
“When he came this way, he just went straight back between the trees and the memorial,” Grzandziel said.
Grzandziel said he called 911, but the damage had already been done.
“He hit the telephone pole, lights going anywhere, and I said it’s time to move back some,” he said.
Pittsburgh police said the driver did not remain at the scene and investigators are working to identify the person.
Neighbors said large trucks can have difficulty navigating the area and questioned whether GPS directions contributed to the incident.
“People use their phone GPS to drive a truck, and it doesn’t work,” Pyatt said.
It’s not the first time a vehicle has damaged the memorial. Another driver knocked it over in 2014.
The latest incident happened just days before Veterans Day.
Residents said they believe additional protections could prevent the memorial from being damaged again. Pyatt said neighbors had previously discussed changing the traffic pattern around the site.
“We wanted to do a roundabout years ago, but the older and younger neighbors argued and argued about whether it should be round or a triangle,” he said. “I think it should’ve been a round, and maybe we would’ve saved it.”
Neighbors are now hoping a stronger barrier can be installed around the memorial to protect it from future crashes.
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