George Floyd mural defaced near Boston

A Massachusetts mural created to commemorate George Floyd, the unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis police custody last month, was defaced sometime before Monday, according to local reports.

The mural, located on an Interstate 93 underpass in Woburn, Mass., was spray painted and accompanied by the caption “Justice 4 Big Floyd,” according to local news reports. But on Monday, white spray paint was found to cover the part of the mural depicting Floyd’s face. 

The artist Esben Rey told CBS affiliate WBZ-TV that he created the mural because he was inspired by the amount of people coming together to honor Floyd. He said he plans to fix it.

“Essentially I painted it because the times — it just broke my heart to see him murdered that way and it just hurt my heart a lot,” Rey said. “So I thought the best way to positively interpret that was to commemorate him and paint a picture of his face.”

Police said no official report has been filed in relation to the mural, according to ABC affiliate WCVB.

Floyd died after being detained by Minneapolis police on May 25. Video footage of his arrest shows a now-former officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd says he can’t breathe and becomes unresponsive. 

The officer has since been fired and charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers on the scene were also booted from the department and charged with aiding and abetting. 

Protests broke out in the country in response to Floyd’s death, with activists calling for reform to address police brutality and treatment of minority populations.