A man has been charged with vandalizing the Manchester Arena memorial.
The Glade of Light, a white marble “halo” bearing the names of the 22 people murdered in the May 2017 attack, opened to the public last month.
Anwar Hosseni, 24, of Twillbrook Drive, Salford is charged with criminal damage, Greater Manchester Police have said
A police spokesman said: ‘Yesterday morning (Wednesday) Greater Manchester Police were notified of damage to the Glade of Light Memorial, Victoria Street.
The 22 victims of the terrorist attack during Ariana Grande’s concert at the Manchester Arena in May 2017. (Top row left to right) Police officer Elaine McIver, 43, Saffie Roussos, 8, Sorrell Leczkowski, 14, Eilidh MacLeod, 14, (2nd row left to right) Nell Jones, 14, Olivia Campbell-Hardy, 15, Megan Hurley, 15, Georgina Callander, 18 (3rd row left to right), Chloe Rutherford, 17, Liam Curry, 19, Courtney Boyle, 19, and Philip Tron, 32 (4th row left to right) John Atkinson, 26, Martyn Hett, 29, Kelly Brewster, 32, Angelika Klis, 39 (5th row left to right) Marcin Klis, 42, Michelle Kiss, 45, Alison Howe, 45 and Lisa Lees, 43 (6th row left to right) Wendy Fawell, 50 and Jane Tweddle, 51 (Greater Manchester Police/PA)
(PA Media)
Hosseni was remanded in custody to appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on March 23.
The memorial is located between Manchester Cathedral and Chetham’s School of Music, at the foot of Fennel Street where it joins Victoria Street.
An official opening is planned for the spring of 2022, before the fifth anniversary of the suicide bomber Salman Abedi’s suicide attack 22, at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.
The tribute is designed as a living memorial – a peaceful garden space for remembrance and reflection, with plants that grow naturally in the British countryside and have been selected to provide year-round color and echo the changes of seasons.
Around the anniversary of each year, May 22, the white flowers of a hawthorn planted in its center will bloom.
