Coos Bay firefighter memorial purposely covered with 'trash' - KOBI-TV NBC5 / KOTI-TV NBC2

Melissa Lucas

COOS BAY, Ore.– Coos Bay Police responded to the Coos Bay Firefighter’s Memorial Saturday morning after it was reported someone had placed trash on and around it.

Once officers arrived, the memorial, located on Central Avenue near 4th Street, did have a variety of items on it including a traffic cone. Police found 37-year-old Melissa Lucas at the memorial as well. She admitted to placing the items on the memorial stating she was decorating it.

Lucas was arrested for Abuse of a Venerated Object and transported to the Coos County Jail. Officers were able to clean up the mess and there was no lasting damage done to the memorial.

NBC5 News Reporter Miles Furuichi graduated from Chapman University with degrees in English and Journalism. He received post graduate experience in Los Angeles in photojournalism and commercial photography. He also spent time in Dublin, Ireland working in print journalism and advertising.

Miles is a Rogue Valley native, raised in Ashland. He enjoys hiking, mountain biking and photography.