AUSTIN — An East Austin mural that showed Democratic Texas Senate Candidate Beto O'Rourke as a superhero has been vandalized and covered with a tarp that reads, "vote now, love trumps hate."
The artist of the mural, Chris Rogers, shared the news that his artwork was destroyed on Instagram Saturday afternoon. In a post, Rogers identifies the alleged suspect and alleges that the person is planning on "vandalizing a.k.a. 'fixing' the Beto mural in Houston too."
According to a press release from Rogers, the mural was defaced early Saturday morning between midnight and 2 a.m., and he said he was "deeply saddened by this destructive state of hate."
PHOTOS: Beto O'Rourke mural vandalized
Before the mural was destroyed, Rogers said he created it as a way to show support for the El Paso Congressman in East Austin. O'Rourke himself even came to Austin to check it out.
The mural was unveiled on the first day of early voting in Texas and showed O'Rourke in a Superman-inspired pose with a Texas flag waving in the background. There was also a reference to Batman's bat signal in the form of an illuminated letter "B."
Now, the mural has been spray painted over with red and white phrases, most of which are illegible from the perspective of the picture. However, some of the sentences are clear and read, "El Paso gentrifier supports Israel" and "No hero."
Rogers said he reported the incident to the Austin Police Department and told them about the alleged suspect, who reportedly took credit for the vandalization on the mural's Facebook page. Rogers said he plans to clean up the mural on Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., and anyone can come and help out at the event. Rogers said he will be handing out and signing photos of the mural before it was defaced. Go here for more information.
The mural is located in the alley between Cesar Chavez and East 2nd Street just east of Waller Street.