Vandal Splatters Paint Over Black Lives Matter Mural Outside Trump Tower

A vandal has been filmed splattering red paint over the Black Lives Matter road mural outside the US President’s New York City residence, Trump Tower.

The public artwork, on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, was commissioned by the City of New York and completed last Thursday, July 9, with members of the public painting ‘Black Lives Matter’ in bold yellow letters with help from Mayor Bill de Blasio.

However, just a few days later their efforts have been defaced with red paint by a person dressed in dark colours, and who covered their head and face with a cap and face mask.

You can watch what happened below:

Despite the vandal only defacing one of the letters – presumably because his single can of paint ran out – the paint was smeared further by passing vehicles, most of it across the letters ‘K’, ‘L’ and ‘I’.

The suspect escaped before law enforcement officers could catch up with him, with police saying they were reviewing surveillance footage and asking people to get in touch with any information.

Carried out last week by members of the community wearing ‘I Am Peace’ T-shirts, the project was one of five murals announced last month for New York City as part of an initiative to honour civil rights activists.

Shortly after this announcement, Donald Trump blasted the project, describing it as a ‘symbol of hate’ that would ‘denigrate this luxury Avenue’. He also said the mural would ‘further antagonise New York’s finest’.

As of yet, there’s been no comment from the president, who has previously threatened those who vandalise monuments such as the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, or ‘just about any other federal monument or statue’ with ‘an automatic 10 years in prison’.

Time will tell whether he has the same attitude towards this vandal, or whether those threats prove entirely empty when they’re not aimed at those he disagrees with.

Just hours after the mural was defaced, the mayor confirmed it had already been repainted by city employees, effectively removing any hint of the red paint.

‘The #BlackLivesMatter movement is more than words, and it can’t be undone,’ de Blasio tweeted alongside a picture of officials fixing the street art.

Police are still investigating the incident but as of yet, no arrests have been made.