A Black Lives Matter mural in Indianapolis was vandalized just one week after a group of artists painted it to help spread the message of social justice and racial equality.
The mural, approved by the Indianapolis City-County Council in July, is painted with the names and pictures of Black Americans killed by police such as Michael Taylor, Dreasjon Reed and Breonna Taylor. Other themes, like the importance of voting and Black pride, were painted as well.
But on Sunday morning, the community woke up to see that each letter had been vandalized with splatters of white and gray paint.
“It’s just awful,” Rebecca Robinson, the artist who painted the “L” in “Black” said in a Facebook Live video as she showed the defaced mural. “It’s just so disappointing because everybody worked so hard.”
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department told CNN affiliate WRTV that it is investigating the vandalism, but did not provide any further details. The department did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Indy10 Black Lives Matter, one of the groups that helped organize the mural, said the incident didn’t dampen its fight for Black lives.
“Just as our parents, elders, and ancestors persisted among burning crosses on their front lawns, so shall we,” the group said in a Facebook post Sunday. “YOU can’t stop the revolution. We are still here. It is rising up in all of us. Paint can’t stop that.”
When asked for further comment, the group referred CNN to its statement on Facebook.
Murals supporting the movement for social justice have popped up across the US since the widespread protests sparked by George Floyd’s death.
The Indianapolis mural, located on Indiana Avenue, is just the latest Black Lives Matter art display to have been vandalized.
The mural outside Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan was vandalized at least four times since it was created in early July. Other Black Lives Matter murals in Washington, Vermont, California were also vandalized.