Fake Facebook page featuring photo of fallen hero removed

BOURNE, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- A fake Facebook page featuring the image of a deceased green beret from the Cape was removed Thursday.

Staff Sergeant Matthew Pucino was killed while on combat patrol in Afghanistan on Nov. 23, 2009.

Pucino's family says he was inspired to join the military after the September 11 attacks. He served three tours of duty in Iraq before his death.

Loved ones wanting to keep his memory alive decided to begin the Matthew A. Pucino Memorial Foundation, which holds a motorcycle ride on the Cape each year to honor his life. They were shocked to learn someone had stolen a picture of Pucino right off of the memorial foundation site and used it on a dating website. Another photo was used on a Facebook page by someone claiming to live in Dallas.

Pucino's family does not know why someone would take his photos, they only cared about getting them taken down. The Facebook page was removed Thursday due to requests from the family.

Pucino's sister expressed her frustration over the amount of time it took for Facebook to remove the page. During an interview Wednesday, she said it was "disgraceful" because "if they wanted something down they could pull it down immediately." Facebook told FOX 25 that they have to go through a "process."

The deceased soldier's sisters want to be sure that every military family is aware of this situation, and hope that may prevent something like this from happening in the future.

Cox Media Group