SAN DIEGO — The legendary John Lennon mural in Pacific Beach was destroyed with spray paint last week and the vandal’s actions were caught on camera.
“It was an iconic PB landmark,” said Leslie Dufour.
The longtime Pacific Beach resident says the mural, painted in 2006, was based on a famous photograph of Lennon. And it quickly made the neighborhood come together.
“People were constantly coming by and taking selfies. If you Google this mural, you'll see a million selfies taken in front of it," Dufour said.
The damage was so depressing, the owner of the business where it happened, 365 Reloaded Smoke Shop on Garnet near Cass, painted over the entire wall.
CBS 8 was there as people noticed the mural was gone.
“Not good… not good,” said Pacific Beach resident Katie Watson shaking her head in disgust. She says it wasn't unusual for the wall to have some graffiti, but the taggers usually left Lennon alone. She can't imagine a motive. “Just why?,” she asked. “What's the reasoning? Why do it to something so pretty?”
The owner of the smoke shop tells CBS 8 that he has already spent thousands of dollars having the wall painted and repainted after people spray paint it, sometimes with vulgar images. But says he's not giving up hope.
He told us he's already agreed to spend thousands more to have an artist paint a new picture of John Lennon on the wall.
He also showed CBS 8 a video of vandals breaking his windows a few months ago. He's not sure if the crimes are related, but for Leslie, this has to stop.
“We have so many people employed here, but if every time the business owner has to fix something, that's money lost for that little business... that little mom and pop business," he said.
Leslie leads tours of artwork around PB and says several famous artists got their start here. She also says it’s a draw for tourists, bringing money into the community.
“Public art is a phenomenal resource for a community,” Leslie said. “You don't have to go to a museum. You don't have to pay.”
San Diego Police are aware of the vandalism and the hope is that someone will recognize the person from the surveillance video and turn them in before other murals are damaged.
“You think of a person who maybe says I've got $10,000 or $20,000 I want to spend on a mural, but I'm worried to do it because I don't know if it'll be defaced,” Leslie said of the vandalism’s possible repercussions.
Hopefully when the new John Lennon mural is up, this time the vandals will let it be.
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