Vandals damage gay pride display

SAN FRANCISCO, June 29 (UPI) -- Vandals damaged a memorial to gay Holocaust victims during San Francisco's 39th year of gay pride festivities, organizers said.

The monument -- an acre-wide triangle of pink tarps -- was burned in the middle and torn elsewhere early Sunday by vandals who stabbed at the display with stakes that held placards describing the history of the project, said Patrick Carney, a -co-founder of the monument.

Since its creation 14 years ago, the pink monument has been displayed annually on San Francisco's Twin Peaks during gay pride week, The San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday.

"In 2009, if this can happen in San Francisco, it can happen anywhere," Carney said. "We have to be vigilant. There's a lot of work to do."

The rest of Sunday's festivities were unmarred as thousands of people carrying rainbow flags symbolizing gay pride and "legalize gay" signs packed downtown San Francisco for the 39th year, the Chronicle reported.

"This is family day for our community," said Norman Tanner, 51, a member of Black Brothers Esteem, a support group for gay and bisexual black men.