FERGUSON (AP) - The Ferguson Police Department has suspended a spokesman after he referred to the Michael Brown memorial as "a pile of trash."
A statement the city provided to The Associated Press on Sunday didn't identify the officer who made the remark to The Washington Post. The newspaper attributed the comment to Officer Tim Zoll.
The memorial at the site of Brown's death was damaged last week after a car apparently hit it.
The city says the spokesman denied making the comment, but later admitted that he'd misled his bosses.
He has been placed on unpaid leave while "disciplinary proceedings" begin.
City officials said negative remarks about the memorial "do not reflect the feelings of the Ferguson Police Department."
Social media reports about damage to the memorial started early Friday. Supporters were out before dawn rebuilding the memorial, which sits in the middle of Canfield Drive in Ferguson.
It is not known who struck the memorial, which went up Aug. 9, soon after the black 18-year-old was shot and killed by a white police officer. The shooting spurred massive protests. A grand jury decided last month not to file charges against the officer, Darren Wilson. Wilson later resigned from the police department.