'Comfort Women' Memorial Vandalized

A monument in the U.S. commemorating the plight of women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Army in World War II has been vandalized.

According to a Korean group that instigated the memorial in Palisades Park, New Jersey, a white wooden stake reading Dokdo "belongs to Japanese territory" was found next to the monument at around 10:20 a.m. on Friday.

The stake, which is around 1 m long, was emblazoned with a Japanese flag. A sign with the same message was also found on top of the monument. Police are investigating.

The stake was similar to one placed by a Japanese man in June next to a statue to the former "comfort women" in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. Palisades Park Mayor James Rotundo pledged to act if it turns out to be a hate crime.

A sticker with the same message was found stuck to the sign plate of the Korean Consulate General in New York the same day, and a day earlier an identical wooden stake was discovered in front of the consulate.