Black Lives Matter mural defaced in Vermont

The vandalism of a Black Lives Matter mural in Vermont is under investigation, police said Sunday. 

Montpelier police said mud, dirt and oil was placed on the roadway over one of the letters part of a mural project that wrote out “Black Lives Matter.”

Police said graffiti was also spray painted on a nearby sidewalk. The graffiti included spray painted messages of “$400 million gone” and “put it back call Trump,” according to images shared by police. 

Police said the messages “referenced government spending and do not appear to reference” the nearby Black Lives Matter mural. 

Police said eyewitness accounts described the persona as a white man around 50-years-old, and are asking the public for assistance in identifying the suspect. 

Vermont House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D), who joined in painting the mural, said Capitol Police and buildings and general service staff are working with Montpelier police to restore the painting and “track down the perpetrators.” 

Yesterday, hundreds of VTers gathered in Montpelier in solidarity to paint BLACK LIVES MATTER in front of the capitol building. Early this morning, it was vandalized. These actions reinforce the need to address head-on the racism and white supremacy right here in our communities. pic.twitter.com/M6vQiz79ol

— Mitzi Johnson (@MitziJohnsonVT) June 14, 2020

“While it is easy to be disgusted and angered by the vandalism of these anonymous cowards, for me their actions reinforce the need to address head-one the racism and white supremacy right here in our communities,” Johnson said in a statement. 

“It is incumbent upon all of us to recognize it, name it, fight it and right the centuries of wrong,” she added.