Vandal dumps red paint on Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower

A man was recorded throwing red paint onto the Black Lives Matter mural that was recently painted on the street in front Trump Tower on Monday.

In brief footage of the incident captured early Monday, the man, whose face was covered, can be seen dumping a can of red paint over part of the mural, days after it was completed. The man, who also doesn’t appear to be wearing gloves, then sets the can down on the street and flees.  

Here’s the guy who dumped red paint on the Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower #nbc4ny https://t.co/MGZ1MBpHvM (Nikki Rospond) pic.twitter.com/5hfabWf5pd

— Steven Bognar (@Bogs4NY) July 13, 2020

However, by late afternoon, the relatively small part of the mural that had been vandalized had been repainted.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) shared a photo showing street crews applying touch-ups to the mural late Monday.

“To whoever vandalized our mural on 5th Avenue: nice try. @NYC_DOT has already fixed it. The #BlackLivesMatter movement is more than words, and it can’t be undone,” he said in the tweet.

To whoever vandalized our mural on 5th Avenue: nice try. @NYC_DOT has already fixed it.

The #BlackLivesMatter movement is more than words, and it can’t be undone. pic.twitter.com/nlYTALCWxJ

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) July 13, 2020

The vandalism comes as a number of murals erected over the past few weeks honoring the Black Lives Matter movement — which has emerged as a global organization in recent years that works to combat racism and police brutality — have been similarly defaced across the country.  

According to local station WABC, New York City police are currently looking for the man who vandalized the Black Lives Matter mural on Fifth Avenue, which had been completed just days before.

The vandalism also comes roughly two weeks after President Trump attacked the city’s plans to paint the mural and knocked de Blasio for “denigrating” what he called a “luxury avenue” with the project.

At the time, Trump also referred to the mural as a “symbol of hate” while taking aim at city officials over plans to cut $1 billion from the local police department’s budget.