Park Watch

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On the morning of 3/29/24, Decatur Park District Police were notified that an artifact from the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center was missing from the Memorial at Lake Decatur. The artifact was described as a portion of metal filing cabinet donated from the site of “Ground Zero”, to be included in the monument.
An investigation immediately ensued, which included review of surveillance imagery from the area. It was determined the artifact appeared to have been removed from the Memorial at approximately 8:57PM, on the night of 2/15/24. The imagery available indicated a strong possibility that the artifact had been discarded into the lake near the Memorial at that time.
Over the course of the next week, with consideration for restrictions of the weather, attempts were made to locate and recover the artifact. Those attempts include “magnet fishing” from the bank and boat, manual search by divers, and sonar sweep by boat. As of this release, those attempts have been unsuccessful.
The Decatur Park District and Park Police Department are committed to a successful resolution to this matter, and will continue to investigate. Anyone with any information as to the persons involved, or location of the artifact, is encouraged to contact the Decatur Park District offices at 217-422-5911 during normal business hours; or the Central Illinois Regional Dispatch Center 24/7 at 217-424-2711 to relay information to Park Police after hours.
The Decatur Park Police would like to thank the City of Decatur Lake Services employees, the Decatur Fire Department, and Perry Twins Outdoors (Doug and Darrell Perry, and Andy Harper) for their interest, willingness, and efforts in conducting the search for this artifact.

Recently Decatur Park Police seized a number of tree stands from park property.

Reminder: Hunting of any kind on park property is unlawful. Violators risk forfeiture of equipment used to hunt; as well as fines for ordinance violations, and criminal charges due to arrest by Park Police and/or IDNR.

Citizens are encouraged to report illegal hunting by contacting the dispatch center at 217-424-2711 (24/7) or the Decatur Park District offices at 217-422-5911 during normal business hours.