BURLINGTON —- The contentious “Everyone Loves a Parade” mural in Burlington’s Church Street Marketplace has been vandalized again.
The faces of figures in the beginning section of the mural, which ranges from Samuel de Champlain to Ethan Allen, were removed. This caused “significant damage” to the mural, the city announced early Friday morning.
In October, the city council set an August 2022 deadline for relocation of the mural, which has been targeted by activists for being exclusionary of both the Abenaki tribe, which inhabited the area long before Champlain’s arrival, and people of color today.
The portion of the mural that was vandalized is now covered by a tarp and not visible. The city became aware of the vandalism Thursday.
Jon Murad, the deputy chief of operations, said the department was reviewing video from multiple sources and has unidentified persons of interest but no identified subjects at this time.
He said the department is also investigating a vandalism incident from Oct. 19 in which there was a similar defacement of mural subjects. While that vandalism was able to be cleaned easily, this more recent vandalism was more serious.
The 2022 date allows the city to live up to its agreement with the artist and funders of the mural. A plaque is to be added soon explaining that the mural is not a comprehensive representation of the city’s history.
Mayor Miro Weinberger condemned the vandalism. He said the Burlington Police Department will investigate the crime and the city will seek “full prosecution” of the perpetrators.
“By acting unilaterally and in contradiction of the recent Council decision, the vandal(s) has disrespected those engaged community members and the democratic rule of law,” he said in a statement.
Activist Albert Petrarca spray painted “OFF THE WALL” on the plague alongside the mural in October 2017. He has taken the lead in the efforts to get the mural removed.
Petrarca was charged with unlawful mischief after defacing the plaque last year. He’s argued that the mural is racist and that the city is “celebrating white supremacy” by leaving it up until 2022.
Following the October council vote, Abenaki Chief Don Stevens rebuked Petrarca in a reply-all response to an email that Petrarca had sent to councilors, the mayor and members of the media.
Stevens said that the tribe is willing to engage with the council to advance the needs of its people, but the mural issue was “far from that level of action needed on our part.”
“We would rather stand alone (as we have always done) than be involved with counterproductive methods or people,” Stevens said in the email. “The Abenaki People are strong and have our own voice, we speak for ourselves.”
Murad said he hopes the situation is treated seriously.
“I think the mayor’s statement makes clear that this isn’t only a felony act of vandalism, it’s a crime against the normal processes of a community dealing with something that’s had a certain amount of controversy around it,” he said.
Under Vermont’s unlawful mischief law, a person who does any damage to any property whose value exceeds $1,000 can be imprisoned up to five years and/or fined up to $5,000.
