“I imagine it was Saturday night (May 9) because if it happened during the day I would imagine that someone would have called me,” Kurt Koehler said. “We’ve been in the community for pretty much ever, and everyone knows I’m associated with the park.”

The park was dedicated to Marianna in 1992 after she was killed in a house fire in 1991, where the park is now. It has picnic tables, barbeques and playground equipment - it’s a popular park for families, Koehler said.

A large eagle with a 12-foot wingspan is perched on a pole high above the park - and can be seen from the Glenn Highway in either direction. Marianna Koehler adopted the steel bird after the Chugiak-Eagle River Senior Center needed to move it for a construction project. She offered to put the eagle on display on her property for the community.

After Marianna Koehler died, her family donated the land to the Municipality of Anchorage for a park and decided to continue the eagle theme by dedicating a smaller bronze eagle, this one with a 5-foot wingspan, on top of a granite memorial. When Kurt Koehler bought the eagle 18 years ago, it was appraised at $7,500, he said, and he believes it’s worth more today.

The family does a lot to maintain the park and make it a pleasant space for the community, and they can be found there several days a week enjoying the park.

When the Koehler family visited the park on Mother’s Day they discovered the bronze eagle had been knocked from its perch.

“I don’t know how they did it because it’s cemented in. There is steel-reinforced concrete holding the base on,” Kurt Koehler said. “It was fairly well placed. Somebody put some effort into trying to steal it or vandalize it.”

The bird, which stands at eye-level, was broken off at the base and leaning on its side.

“It upset me, you know, it was my mom’s park and it was Mother’s Day and to find a cherished item like that,” Kurt Koehler said. “It just makes a person feel really bad that people don’t have respect. There is a lot of sentimental value. It was upsetting to the whole family.”

Kurt Koehler reported the vandalism to John Rodda, the director of the Eagle River-Chugiak Parks and Recreation and Community Development office and the Anchorage Police Department.

“To think that someone would want to steal the eagle off part of a memorial to Marianna is just beyond me.” Rodda said. “I can’t quite figure out how this occurred. Somebody had to work very hard to create the initial crack. I’m not sure if somebody tried to cut it or if they used a cold chisel ... But once they got it started, they rocked it in an effort to basically take it off.”

The eagle is now locked up in the parks and recreation office while Rodda tries to find someone with the skills to repair the metal post and fittings. The eagle itself was not damaged.

“It’s too bad - I just have such a difficult time imagining why someone would want to do that to a nice neighborhood park where a family has given lots of time, property, energy and kept it very nice,” Rodda said.

Unfortunately, this is not the first vandalism Rodda has investigated recently. A few weeks ago someone trotted a couple of horses around the Loretta French Park ball fields, tearing up the grass. A week later people drove a pair of vehicles over the boulders that surround Oberg Soccer Fields to get up on a hill to play flag-football - ruining part of the field in the process. Rodda also had to clean up an unusual amount of trash, including furniture, dumped at Beach Lake Park.

“Hopefully we don’t see more of it,” Rodda said. “If this is all we get then I’m grateful, if continue to get more, I’m not. I’m not saying it’s a trend, but it’s not something we like to see.”

Rodda is not sure how much it will cost to repair the Koehler eagle, but he’s dedicated to getting it fixed. Parks and recreation doesn’t budget for a large quantity of vandalism costs, Rodda said, so the department will have to absorb the costs.

Rodda encourages people who see bad behavior or vandalism in parks to report it directly to his office by calling 694-2011. He doesn’t want people to put themselves in harm’s way and only asks that folks get a description of the vandals, the vehicle and license plate numbers. If people see something really egregious, they should call police at 786-8900 to make a report.

Rodda and Kurt Koehler have talked a lot about the damaged memorial and the recent up-tick in vandalism - and it all makes Koehler a little sad.

“(My mom) was so dedicated to the betterment of the community, was so chartable and helped everybody for the many, many years she’d been here - the monument says we hope future generations will carry on the tradition.”

Reach the reporter at jill.fankhauser@alakastar.com.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, May 21, 2009.