AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage announced on Wednesday that he’s directing $10,000 from a state contingency fund to help complete a memorial for murder victims and called on Maine residents to work toward eradicating domestic violence.

The money will be used to complete the Maine Murder Victims’ Memorial at the Catholic Holy Family Cemetery in Augusta, which will have the names of 400 to 500 Maine murder victims inscribed on black granite tablets, LePage said during a ceremony at the State House.

The Republican governor, who has made fighting domestic violence a key issue in his administration, also declared October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The governor’s mansion, the Blaine House, will also be illuminated purple this month in honor of the fight against domestic violence.

LePage urged Maine men to step up to help eliminate domestic abuse violence against women.

“This is how we’re going to slowly, but deliberately eliminate this abuse,” he said. “We can have all the strict laws in the world, but we have to make it socially unacceptable.”

Six of the 17 homicides that have taken place in Maine this year have been related to domestic violence, the governor’s office said.