TUPELO  (AP) — Construction has begun on a Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Tupelo.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports a ceremonial groundbreaking at Veterans Memorial Park was held Monday. Tupelo Parks and Recreation director Alex Farned says the memorial should be complete by Veterans Day in November.

The memorial will be a simple, black granite “V’’ about 60 percent of the size of the official monument in Washington, D.C.

The idea for a memorial originated when a traveling replica visited Fulton in 2001. A group called the Vietnam Replica Wall Committee formed and started raising funds for the project. The city donated $150,000.

After years of discussions, the state of Mississippi earmarked $750,000 in bond money for the project.

Vietnam Veterans of America Tupelo chapter President Rex Moody says the memorial will be “a healing wall.”