Caltrans Unveils Murals Along 101 Freeway, Bandit Steals 2
Before Caltrans unveiled four new graffiti-resistant murals along the 101 Freeway on Monday, a drive-by or walk-by thief heisted two of the artworks, reports Daily Breeze.
"They were rolled up, with access to the railing above - and someone took advantage of the situation," said Patrick Chandler, a Caltrans spokesman. "Someone must have just walked up and grabbed 'em."
The theft took place between midnight on Saturday and 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Created as replacement replicas of the 1980s painted murals, which suffered from graffiti and whitewash, the four mobile murals were printed on recycled plastic and vinyl.
George Sportelli's "Tony Curtis" portrait and John Wehrle's "Galileo, Jupiter and Apollo," painted before the 1984 Olympic Games, remain safe. However, both Frank Romero's 12-by-40-foot "Going to the Olympics" and half of Ruben Soto's mural diptych, "I Know Who I Am," were stolen. Which half was heisted? The section depicting Mickey Rourke with boxing tape on his hands, of course.
A police report has been filed.
"We haven't heard anything about them," said Officer Gregory Baek, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman. "Or from Caltrans."
Each mural will hang for 90 days as part of the project, which was made possible by a $30k grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation. Metro has donated $5,200 towards replicas of all four murals, and Caltrans continues to solicit support for other freeway mural replicas.
