OTTAWA - The federal government is instituting a series of year-round security measures at the National War Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier after Canada Day revellers urinated on the site last year.

Beginning Saturday, two sentries will stand guard at the site throughout the summer tourist season, while year-round electronic surveillance of the memorial in central Ottawa has been boosted.

Additional security patrols will also be dispatched during the tourist season while guards and crowd-control measures will be deployed during Canada Day and other special events.

The steps come after an outcry from citizens and veterans' organizations over the desecration of what Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson calls a "sacred site."

Two teenagers - one of whom had been photographed relieving himself at the monument - publicly apologized, agreed to perform community service, and were not charged.

A mischief charge against a third man, 23-year-old Stephen Fernandes of Montreal, who was also photographed urinating on the memorial, was dropped in February after he wrote a letter of apology and completed 50 hours of community service at a veterans' home.

The National War Memorial with its Tomb of the Unknown Soldier sits in the middle of a roundabout adjacent to the Parliament buildings. On Canada Day, with roads closed, it's crossed and admired by thousands of revellers and tourists.

The legion and other veterans groups have been calling on Ottawa to post a military guard to the monument since the Canada Day incident.

It's not the first time the memorial has been subjected to indignities. In 2005, someone spray-painted a swastika on the stone in the early-morning hours of Remembrance Day.

Skateboarders and stunt cyclists have also used and abused the site, and veterans complain "amorous encounters" have taken place around the granite and bronze memorial.

They say a lack of education on what Canadian veterans have contributed to the country is largely to blame for the disrespectful incidents.