AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) Rep. Mike Coffman says the glass panel on the Colorado Freedom Memorial that was shattered over the weekend needs to be replaced and that more needs to be done to prevent that kind of thing from happening in the future.

The founder, Rick Crandall, noticed the damage Monday morning as he was sprucing it up for Independence Day.

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Something, right? Of all the times for it to happen, he said.

After looking at the impact point and considering the strength of the glass, Crandall is all but certain this was deliberate.

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And the cost to fix it, roughly $55,000.

Coffman says hes planning a fundraising dinner to collect money for the cleanup.

No one thought there would be a problem like this and theres never been a problem like this before, so clearly we have to replace the glass and install a security system, said Coffman.

The location and date of the event are still being worked out.

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Six thousand names of those killed in action since Colorado became a state are on the memorial.

Aurora police cannot say for sure the damage was caused by vandals, but they are investigating and offering up to $2,000 for information about what happened.

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We still need help raising money, in addition to the replacement of the panel, to cover the ongoing operations and maintenance for the memorial, so I would encourage everyone to go towww.cfmf.netto donate or make a check out to the Colorado Freedom Memorial and send it to P.O. Box 472333, Aurora, Colorado 80047-2333, said Diane Crandall.

A GoFundMe page is now up to help with the repair costs.

LINK: The Colorado Freedom Memorial On Facebook

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Rep. Coffman Says Damage To Freedom Memorial Needs Repair - CBS Local