One hundred and one white crosses, each with a poppy and silver fern attached, and a larger cross, with the words ‘‘Lest We Forget'' and a New Zealand flag, were installed at the South Dunedin home on Monday.
By yesterday, the flag and the nine crosses had disappeared.
World War 2 veteran and Radius Fulton Care Centre resident Lloyd Martin (92), who served four years with the Royal Air Force as a radio operator and gunner in the Pacific, said he was ‘‘absolutely disgusted'' by the theft.
‘‘I'm not given to swearing but if I did, I'm sure I could manufacture some words for the people who would do a desecration like this,'' he said.
‘‘It's a part of our remembrance and I am a returned serviceman ... so I have feelings which are perhaps a little deeper than others because of what the flag really means to me, having fought under that flag.
‘‘Now, somebody flogs it. I'd really like to get them and flog them, but that's not allowed ...''
Mr Martin hoped the stolen items would be returned.
‘‘[It is] here as a commemoration of so many Otago and New Zealanders who died.
‘‘We have it here for people as they go past on the street [and] they just stop and remember.
‘‘Please return our flag. It means so much to us.''
Radius Fulton Care Centre facility manager Robyn Bowie said she noticed the cross and flag were missing when she arrived yesterday morning.‘‘The residents are very upset.
‘‘This is so meaningful to our residents.
‘‘It's a really important and significant part [of events] for the residents to commemorate and remember,'' Mrs Bowie said.
Residents made the crosses and helped set up the memorial. This is the third year the crosses have been displayed.
‘‘It's the first time anything's ever been removed.
‘‘Perhaps [people] not understanding the significance and what it means to the residents that live at Radius Fulton [was a factor],'' she said.
She intended to notify police.
RSA Otago Southland district president Jenepher Glover said the residents had done something special to remember and pay tribute and it was ‘‘a shame it ended like that''.
