BATON ROUGE — A downtown plaza was filled with hundred of hearts bearing the names of veterans Wednesday morning as part of a Valentine's Day memorial event.

The Hearts for Heroes event is "a visual representation of our community's respect and appreciation for those who have served our nation," Mayor-President Sid Edwards and his office's Advisory Council on Veterans Affairs said.

Various capital area groups showed up for the event to show their support.

"We've decided to come out and display our cars to show support for our veterans. We have over 20 veterans in our Baton Rouge Corvette Club and we enjoy doing thins like this," Bubba Cashio with the Baton Rouge Corvette Club said. "Without the veterans, we wouldn't be able to have the freedoms that we have. We just want to honor them and show support and come out for the ones that are here."

Elena Branzaru, chair of the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Veterans Affairs, said Sunday she worked with volunteers to personalize each heart with the name, military branch and any honors or awards earned by the veterans being recognized at the Davis Rhorer Plaza near Baton Rouge City Hall.

She said she wanted to make sure no veteran was left out of the tribute.

The event opened with a ceremony in the plaza at 9 a.m.