Mural Vandalized In Tulsa's Greenwood District, Tulsa Police Searching For Suspect

Some people in the Greenwood District are upset and disappointed that someone vandalized a mural over the weekend. The Greenwood Chamber of Commerce filed a report with Tulsa Police.

From the air, the mural's bright colors stand out between I-244 and Greenwood Ave., but a closer look reveals sections of exposed brick, after vinyl was torn off the building.

"Can we have something without someone tearing it up?" Cleo Harris asked.

Harris, a business owner in Greenwood, took video when he first noticed something was wrong Sunday morning, showing bits of vinyl left behind on the sidewalk.

He said he just had visitors from Sweden in his store, Black Wall Street Tees & Souvenirs, last week.

"When we get travelers coming in and they see this, this is not part of art. This is vandalism,” he said.

"It's wrong. It's hateful. It's spiteful. Unnecessary,” Tulsa resident Terry Baccus said.

Pictures from the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce security camera show someone taking off the vinyl after midnight on Saturday.

"It doesn't feel malicious, though. I think if someone had spray painted a bunch of racial slurs on it, I'd be feeling a different way right now. But I don't feel that. I feel like it was just dumb,” Artist Skip Hill said.

Hill collaborated with Chris Rogers from Sker Creative on the piece, which depicts Greenwood before and after the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. 

"I think in a way it could be a metaphor for the community,” Hill said. “There's always, there's this, what is destroyed, can be restored, and be rebuilt again. Let's make it just as beautiful as before. Let's use it as an opportunity to come together."

Hill has this message for the person in the security footage:

“I'd probably want to hug the dude, man, and just say, ‘Hey man, what was that all about?’ Really. I'm not even mad at the guy. I'm just really disappointed. I'm saddened,” Hill said.

Hill is confident this can be fixed, but said the entire mural would likely need to be replaced. He discussed the idea of starting a fundraiser to help make that happen.

The mural was commissioned three years ago by "Greenwood," a banking platform based in Atlanta serving Black and Latino communities.

It was put in place in time for the centennial commemoration of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

If you have any information about what happened, call Tulsa Police.