A brand new mural in Chicago’s Chinatown was vandalized for the second time in one week, first reported by CBS Chicago.
The mural of blue flowers against a white porcelain backdrop is in Ping Tom Memorial Park on what used to be a drab underpass.
The artists had barely finished when it was first vandalized with the name of a slain rapper who was recently killed in Florida. The letters “R.I.P” are spray painted right underneath his name, “Tentacion.”
After discovering the first graffiti attempt, local artists raised over $2,000 in a GoFundMe campaign to restore the wall and finish the mural in time for its dedication ceremony later this month on July 28 according to Block Club Chicago. The volunteers spent over 15 hours removing the tag last week.
Only a couple days later, the vandals struck again with a nearly identical message: “+++ Tentacion R.I.P.” in silver paint. The artists returned to the wall on Saturday to remove the tag — again.
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According to Chester Chow, who worked on the project, it’s unclear what’s motivating these vandals to pick this wall in particular. He told CBS Chicago that he’s not sure why someone would attack community artwork that’s supposed to bring people together.
“Please choose another wall because this is a finished product,” Chow said. “There are so many different walls to put your tag on.”
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