A missing veterans' memorial in Lehighton has gotten a lot of attention from people passing by.

But the local vets' organization thatmaintains the monument wants to assure the public that the memorial has only temporarily disappeared, and will be resurrected in time to observe Veteran's Day.A local veterans' organization plans to relocate the Sgt. Stanley Hoffman memorial just across the street from its current location on the boulevard that also bears Hoffman's name.Over the weekend, volunteers from the Lehighton United Veterans Organization removed the brass plaque bearing the name of the 57 Lehighton-area soldiers who died in World War II, then set about the task of dismantling the old base.Because of the mess caused by the process of breaking up the old base, many drivers thought that it was struck by a vehicle, UVO vice commander Dave Bryfogle said."We had about 20 people come by and ask if it was hit by a truck," he said. "It did look like a bomb went off here."The monument has actually been struck at least three times since it was put up in 1985. That was one reason UVO had planned to move it for several months.With the memorial facing traffic on such a busy road, it was sometimes difficult for the organization to hold ceremonies at the memorial.It also sat on private property, meaning that its long-term security may have been threatened.The borough of Lehighton has allowed them to erect the memorial on public land alongside the boulevard.Bryfogle praised the borough, as well as several businesses for volunteering supplies. Forest Inn Masonry donated the concrete, Central Spring Works in Tamaqua donated the hardware and Lowe's supplied the lumber.The new location ensures the memorial has a permanent home that is more accessible to the public, thanks to the Lehighton Spur of the Delaware & Lackawanna trail.It also has added significance for anyone who can remember that section of town when the D&L still ran through.As Bryfogle recalled, it was often the last thing that local men leaving to join the war effort would see.And for many of the 57 Lehighton-area soldiers who died, it was where their bodies were returned."The men whose names are on that plaque, they left the Lehighton train station right there, and when they returned, their bodies came through there," he said.Hoffman was one of the soldiers from Lehighton who was killed in action. He died at Anzio Beach in Italy in February 1944.Bryfogle said he was chosen to represent all 57 soldiers when the boulevard was dedicated in 1985.UVO, an organization that provides honor guard services at dozens of veterans' funerals in Carbon County each year, plans to rededicate the monument on Nov. 11 - Veterans' Day.