Weylandt memorial vandalized in Ghent

Vandals knocked over a brick memorial to Belgians Wouter Weylandt, Dmitri De Fauw and Frederiek Nolf on Thursday night, Sporza.be reported today.

The stone was dedicated last month after the death of Weylandt in the Giro d'Italia. Patrick Cosyn, who led the effort to create the memorial, was aghast.

"It's awful - who does a thing like that? People without hearts, in any case," Cosyn said. "The memorial stone is broken in two. The city of Ghent will restore it in two weeks, and I have a complaint into the police. They are doing everything possible to find the perpetrators."

The memorial sits along the Schelde river next to a path popular with local training groups, and at the point of the final sprint of the weekday ride. Weylandt, Nolf and De Fauw frequented the rides.

Nolf died in 2009 at the Tour of Qatar of natural causes, while De Fauw committed suicide later the same year.