Mural Defaced in San Ignacio: Clean-Up Efforts Underway

The political temperature in the twin towns of San Ignacio/Santa Elena in the Cayo District was heightened over the weekend after several portions of a mural in the municipality were defaced. Vandals sprayed political rhetoric in support of the opposition and the outgoing mayor on the brightly colored paintings. The actions were condemned by residents, and an effort to clean the walls was launched by Galen University. Yesterday morning, a team of Galen Eagles and a few volunteers from both major political parties took it upon themselves to manually scrub the spray paint off the paintings and walls. The university wrote on its Facebook page, quote, “What does this defacement of public property say about the civic pride of our people? Do the vandals who defaced this beautiful work of art even know what this mural represents? Do they even know who painted it? That it was done by young adults as part of two University courses, many of whom will likely cast their votes on Wednesday?” End of quote.  The University stated that it hopes to work with the next town council to fully restore the mural.