ST JAMES, Jamaica — Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Richard Vernon has expressed hopes that nearby closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, operated by the police, will provide them with information about who is responsible for defacing the statues in Sam Sharpe Square.

“The police that operate within the space, they have cameras there and they should be able to help us to identify the perpetrators so that the necessary actions can be facilitated,” he told Observer Online.

Vernon, however, said that if the individuals were discovered, he was uncertain what kind of punitive actions could be taken.

“The Jamaica National Heritage Trust, they are custodians of these artefacts, monuments, heritage sites and they are the ones that are able to exact any kind of penalties where breaches or tampering are concerned,” he explained.

On Monday, it was discovered that a green-looking paint had been used to stain the five statues located in the area, which had been set up as a monument to the work of National Hero Sam Sharpe.

Vernon lambasted the actions of the individuals involved in carrying out such an act.

“We have to pay more respect to these representations of our history and I saw a post on social media yesterday and when I looked at the comment section I realised that persons were very angry and rightly so because this is unacceptable and we have to do better as a people,” he said.

“I am urging them to desist from doing so. These artefacts, they’re historical symbols of our past and where we want to be in terms of moving forward and they represent persons who have done significant things for Jamaica, who have done well and who have made the sacrifice for where we are today as a people,” he said.

He said that this is not the first time they have had to deal with such a situation as he explained that about two years ago, they had a similar occurrence. At that point, he said that they put in measures to prevent such a recurrence.

“We had to build a rail around it so as to reduce the probability of persons accessing them and even with that in place, they still try to go there and deface and vandalise and that is disheartening and I am urging them to desist,” he said.

As it relates to remedying the issue, he said that they have been in dialogue with the trust on rectifying the matter because that entity would know how to treat it more than the corporation.

“The Jamaica National Heritage Trust, we’ve called them to explain what happened and they are sending a team, I believe they should be here by now to assess the vandalism, I understand,” he explained.

“We have to allow them to look at it, do the investigations and assessment and then make the necessary recommendations,” he said.