The beautiful memorial dodged another bullet at the weekend when a car crashed into sandstone structure.

Around 11am on Sunday a Ford Falcon utility driven by a 54-year-old Nowra man struck the southern side of the main memorial wall.

The man then allegedly continued driving towards Ben’s Walk where police later found him.

His vehicle suffered significant damage to the front end.

On Monday morning smashed glass was still strewn across the southern entry of the memorial gates, while glass was also embedded in the main memorial sandstone wall where it was struck by the car.

The man was interviewed by police and will be receiving an infringement notice for negligent driving.

It’s not the first time the memorial gates have had a run in with a motor vehicle.

In the late ’80s the southern arch of the memorial gate suffered significant damage after being struck by a garbage truck.

Last year, after a racist attack on the Nowra War Cemetery, it was feared a large blue fluorescent stain that appeared on the historic statue may have also been a vandalism attack.

But in fact it was a natural occurring process called verdigris, which can often affect bronze, brass and copper items.

This Nowra War Memorial is seven metres tall, carved from sandstone and set between the wrought iron gates at the entrance to Nowra Showground.

Cyril Blacket won a competition to design the memorial to commemorate World War I. The impressive structure, resembling a castle with its parapets and towers, was officially opened by Admiral Evans on January 22, 1931.

The imposing, and controversial nine foot tall memorial bronze statue, designed by Otto Steen, depicts a soldier with no helmet or rifle on the alert to safeguard the future in a memorial fountain.

It was unveiled on March 23, 1968 by then NSW Governor Sir Roden Cutler to commemorate World War II and subsequent conflicts.

This Soldiers Gate Memorial is the focus for Nowra Anzac ceremonies.