Stockton street mural defaced hours after being completed
STOCKTON — A street mural that took months of planning in Stockton was defaced when a driver did burnouts and donuts over it just hours after it was finally completed.
The mural was a dedication to the city of Stockton and its Minor League Baseball team, the Ports. Kia Duras-Carter, the mural's artist, said the damage that's been done to it is costly.
"I was in shock. I was sad more than mad," Duras-Carter said. "Why would someone want to do that? Why would you want to mess it up?"
Duras-Carter and her team of volunteers got the painting of the Stockton Ports logo on Van Buren and Fremont Streets done in just two days time after months of planning.
However, it didn't last long. Early Monday morning, fewer than six hours after the mural was complete, it was defaced.
The Downtown Stockton Alliance said it paid for the mural using no taxpayer dollars, spending $15,000 in private funds for paint, labor and road closures.
The damage done to the mural is worth at least $8,000.
The Stockton Police Department said it has video of the driver defacing the mural and is trying to identify the individual.
Duras-Carter wants to put a positive spin on the incident.
"Those marks can be fixed. There's nothing that can't be undone," Duras-Carter said. "There's already people reaching out to me and saying, "Hey, when you fix it, I want to come help.' "
There is another mural that is planned in downtown that Duras-Carter and her team will be a part of.