Fayetteville police investigating mural vandalism

Courtesy photo

Fayetteville police are searching for whoever is responsible for vandalizing a mural on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard earlier this week.

The “Love Unites Us” mural was defaced early Tuesday when vandals painted over the word “unites” and replaced it with the word “weakens.” A white supremacist slogan was also painted on the building, located at 1605 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. beside Take 5 Oil Change.

The building earlier this year was vandalized with “White Pride” graffiti, but the building’s owner gave permission to local artist Olivia Trimble to design a mural to cover the words with something positive. Trimble, along with a group of volunteers, painted the wall bright blue with the words “Love Unites Us” in pink and red.

Staff photo

Trimble has previously received national attention for her ‘Repaint Hate’ campaign in which she paints over hateful graffiti with positive messages.

Aside from defacing Trimble’s work, someone also painted “14 Words” on the building, in reference to the popular white supremacist slogan.

Staff photo

“Your police department will not tolerate this hate speech and damage to personal property,” states a post on the Fayetteville Police Department’s Facebook page.

Anyone who has any information regarding the crimes should contact the department at 479-587-3555.