Attacks on markers happen

Missing for more than 30 years, the plaque from the monument honoring Ensign Peak was recovered in 1992.

Theft and other vandalism of markers is not very common, but it does happen. And some markers seem to attract trouble.

The monument and marker atop Ensign Peak, a prominent and historic hill north of downtown Salt Lake City, were set in place in 1934. But the solid brass plaque disappeared — apparently pried off the monument — only to be recovered years later.

The marker honoring the settlement of the little community of Granite has been stolen twice. The marker from a Donner Hill monument, at the mouth of Emigration Canyon, was stolen years ago and is still missing.

In the case of Salt Lake City's lone cedar tree monument, the marker itself wasn't stolen — the tree was. First, vandals sawed off the top of the tree, leaving just a stump. Years later, vandals took the remaining stump, leaving just the monument.

Under Utah law, it is illegal to deface monuments, says Dawna Thayne, marker chairwoman for the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, but markers still go missing. Some, like the Ensign Peak marker, are recovered, and some are simply replaced, as happened with the Granite settlement.

Other markers aren't stolen, they are defaced. The marker at Lindsey Gardens has graffiti on the back, which is not uncommon.

Vandalism, of course, is not only a modern problem. Anderson Tower, one of the sites marked by a Daughters of Utah Pioneers marker, was closed years ago because of vandalism.