GARNER, N.C. – The Garner Police said Monday that there has been a second act of vandalism in the area.
He said seven doors and two places on walls were vandalized with that message at the 500 block of Village Court in Garner. He said the property owners discovered the changes Monday morning.
Garner’s new police station on 7th Avenue is in the finishing stages with police planning to move in soon.
A new mural was painted outside, but on Friday it was defaced with this message: “Kill A Cop, Save A Child.”
The police chief was livid about the incident on Sunday.
“A hate crime in my opinion; it must stop,” said Chief Brandon Zuidema.
“Disgusting act with absolutely no justification or reason,” Zuidema also Tweeted.
“That someone would choose not only to deface a mural that’s intended to be a community asset, but would deface it with the words ‘kill a cop’ on it, makes me sick,” said Zuidema.
A local artist said he spent more than 200 hours working on the mural.
“Hurtful, it was really hurtful for me to watch that happen to those officers. At first I was kind of mad that it happened to me. And then I realized it had nothing to do with me at all,” said artist Vincent Wood.
The Garner Police are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the anyone responsible for defacing the mural.
“For this to happen makes me angry, makes me disgusted. And I’m going to see that I can do whatever I can do to get this person off the streets,” said Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams.
On Sunday, Wood vowed he would re-paint the mural.
“To the vandal that tagged our mural…I am gonna make it better than it was gonna be. You can’t beat me, chump, I am from Garner,” he wrote on Facebook.
