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PARK CITY — It's both sad and a bit ironic. The world-renowned street artist famous for his graffiti drawings had his own murals defaced in Park City.
Banksy is an anonymous street artist from the United Kingdom. He is known for his political, satirical and sometimes humorous street art.
In 2010, two of Banksy's pieces appeared along Main Street in Park City. They coincided with the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and the release of a documentary he directed called "Exit Through the Gift Shop."
Shortly after 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, police received a call reporting that the glass casing over a Banksy piece outside Java Cow Cafe and Bakery, 402 Main, had been damaged, according to Park City Police Sgt. Jay Randall. The vandal apparently was unsuccessful in trying to break the glass covering the depiction of a cameraman uprooting a flower.
The responding officer spotted another damaged Banksy piece, a mural of an angel located near the steps to the garage at 537 Main, on his way to the scene. The glass covering on the mural was shattered and the piece entirely blocked out with brown spray paint, according to police.
The officer collected evidence at both scenes and found footprints. Video footage showed a white man taking a blunt object to the case of the Banksy piece outside the Java Cow Cafe and Bakery around 2 a.m. Tuesday, Randall said.
No footage was available for the piece at the parking garage.
Police could not give an estimate the value of the damaged art because it was not sanctioned or paid for, Randall said. However, the owner of the parking garage estimated the damage to that piece at $15,000.
If the vandal is caught, he could face criminal mischief charges ranging from a misdemeanor to a felony, depending on what a judge and insurance companies determine, Randall said.'
Banksy is a man who chooses to keep his identity hidden, but his artwork pops up all over the world, often with politically charged themes. Some have called Banksy's murals vandalism, others have labeled them as works of art. In Park City, they're iconic.
"It is such a shame, heartbreaking even," said Robin Marrouche, executive director for the Kimball Art Center on Main Street. "Banksy's voice and importance in our culture today is significant, and the vandalism against his street art is just as upsetting as vandalism you read about against works by important artists of earlier times."
Whitney Tassie, curator of modern and contemporary art for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, said she doesn't believe Banksy created his art to be preserved.
"It's always a shame, I think, when his work gets defaced," Tassie said, but as a graffiti artist, Banksy knows that his work is open to being either defiled or added to.
"Anytime that he makes a work, he knows that it's open for any other graffiti artist" to adjust or reframe how they want, she said.
But the real question may be, how does one vandalize vandalism? Many say that Banksy was breaking the law when he painted the murals in the first place.
"In the eyes of the law, yes," said Cory Aliinson, Park City Police Department. "As far as the business owners say, they're happy to have it and support it."
They supported it so much, they even paid to install protective glass over the artwork.
Jude Grenney operates J-Go Art Gallery on Main Street and welcomed the so-called "graffiti" when it first appeared on her building.
"I thought it was fabulous," she said. "I felt fortunate that he was able to do a couple in town. The more we know about street art, the more we can appreciate it. Banksy is the best."
Park City Police said they're following up on several leads. If you have any information, you can call their anonymous tip line at 435-615-5500.
