The fence around the obelisk on the Eastern Promenade was damaged by a person driving a stolen pickup truck, police said.
David Singer, a spokesman for the Portland Police Department, said officers noticed a 2006 Silver GMC driving at a high speed downtown around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. They checked the truck’s registration and found that it has been reported stolen. They tried to stop it, but the driver took off. The officers did not chase the truck.
Later, dispatchers received calls about the same vehicle crashing into the monument. Singer said the truck was found on the grass on the Eastern Promenade hill, but the driver was not found. He said the investigation is ongoing.
The obelisk is made from granite from North Jay and does not appear to have been damaged. The circular fence around it was broken and blocked off by caution tape Wednesday. Called the Cleeves and Tucker Memorial, it was the first public monument sited in Portland and was built in 1883, according to the city. It commemorates the Cleeves and Tucker families, thought to be early settlers of the area. The four sides of the obelisk are engraved with four past and present names of the city: Machigone, Casco, Falmouth and Portland.
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