Vandals spray-paint graffiti over 1,000 feet of Boulevard Tunnel mural

ATLANTA — A large mural in southeast Atlanta that was met with a great deal of fanfare five years ago now looks 
nothing like the original work.

The walls of the Boulevard Tunnel were painted in 2014 with a mural of rainbow colors. Today, it has been tagged over and over with what many would consider graffiti.

Travis Simmons said the first time he saw it he could describe it in one word, maybe two.

"One word, it would be sad, you know? Or horrible," Simmons told Channel 2's Berndt Petersen.

About 1,000 feet of the walls along the tunnel in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward has been defaced.

TRENDING STORIES:

• Warehouse full of plastic gator heads burns in massive fire near I-285
• 8-year-old boy found dead behind NW Georgia home
• Diahann Carroll, Oscar-nominated, pioneering actress, dies

Channel 2 Action News was there in 2014 when the local nonprofit Living Walls financed 200 gallons worth of artwork.

"I think it was pretty. It was vibrant. People would come out there and take pictures in front of it," said Kathleen Turchin, who lives nearby.

Turchin said about a year later, graffiti began to pop up here and there. Now, the original work is all but covered.

"It was a real nice mural. Now, everywhere you go in the city … it's not a good look," said Demetrich Moss.

Some call the tagging vandalism. Simmons told Petersen that some graffiti is art. But when one artist paints over another artist's work, that's where he draws the line.

In a statement from Living Walls, a representative said: "It's sad to see the tunnel like this because we produced this piece of public art for free as a gift to the community."

Cox Media Group