Following the Dec. 19 inspection of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on the Wakefield town common — damaged in 1973 when vandals knocked one of the statues off its base and deteriorating since its dedication in 1902 — estimates suggest it could cost upwards of $100,000 to restore it.

The inspection was initiated by a request to the Wakefield Board of Selectmen from Kevin Tucker, who has a vested interest in seeing the monument preserved. A member of the Wakefield camp of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, his great-grandfather, Charles Elwell, served in the 11th Massachusetts Infantry.