GRAPEVINE, Texas — On a corner in Grapevine, Joe Luccioni sat quietly amid his frustration.
"I'm really still very very upset as to what happened here," Luccioni said.
Artifacts from a Sept. 11 memorial in Grapevine were stolen, police announced Wednesday.
The stolen items were a stone from the Flight 93 crash site in Shanksville, Penn., and a limestone fragment from the impact zone of the Pentagon, where Flight 77 crashed, according to a police news release.
The memorial, which is maintained by the City of Grapevine, is known as the 9-11 Flight Crew Memorial.
Lucciani helped build the memorial in 2008. From fundraising to raising its statue, and cleaning the site weekly, he has been involved every step of the way.
"It's a peaceful place," Lucciani said. "This is mine."
The memorial has served as a healing space for Lucciani for more than a decade. The Bronx native who has called Grapevine home for 30 years lost his daughter's fiance on 9/11. Michael Lynch, a firefighter, died in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Lynch's name is engraved at the memorial in Grapevine.
Grapevine officers on Monday were dispatched to the memorial, which is located at 1000 Texan Trail after the artifacts were found missing from their enclosures.
"I couldn't believe it," Lucciani said. "This is a holy site, this is a sacred site. Let's put it this way: if I catch the son of a gun, I'd be in jail."
Grapevine PD PIO Amanda McNew said police haven't exhausted all of their leads, but they're counting on the public to come forward with any information that will lead them to more information.
"It's despicable. It's a theft for the entire community," McNew said. "Turn them in. Do it now. If it's a horrible mistake, then turn yourself in and pay the consequences for it."
Police detectives on Wednesday were trying to "establish a timeline" for when the stones were last confirmed to be at the memorial and then when they were stolen, according to the release.
"These stones are a vital piece of history that allows us to remember and pay tribute to the flight crew members, and all who were lost on September 11, 2001," the police news release said.
Police provided a photo of the artifacts from a Trip Advisor user who posted them online:
Amber De Roxtra, DFW Base President of the Association for Professional Flight Attendants told WFAA she attends a 9/11 memorial service at the site every year. She remembers working as a flight attendant on 9/11 and the pain she felt when she learned crew members and first responders died.
"When Grapevine built this, it was a step in trying to heal our community. It’s truly sad that something was taken from that in a place of healing," De Roxtra said. "You have taken something that has survived something so horrific that we have now placed it as a place of honor and respect. They have taken that. That’s where I feel that it’s disgusting."
Anyone with information about the theft is asked to contact police Sgt. Oscar Ramirez at oramirez@grapevinetexas.gov.