DELAND, Fla. – Someone in DeLand has a serious issue with butterflies — specifically, painted ones.
One of the city’s famous murals, located on State Route 44, has been vandalized not just once, but five times in the last month.
The mural, which celebrates DeLand as Florida’s First Monarch City, now has paint splatters all over it. The artist, Courtney Canova, said it costs hundreds of dollars and takes weeks of work to restore the mural.
“We came out and cleaned it up already, and then it got really splattered,” Canova said.
This is a disappointing sight for Canova, who recently shared a video of his first attempt to redo the mural after it was vandalized in May.
“It’s not like graffiti going over graffiti. It’s official city art,” he added.
The mural, located in a public parking lot along New York Avenue, was painted back in 2019, right after DeLand was named Florida’s First Monarch City USA. Canova wonders why, out of the dozens of murals in the city, vandals keep targeting this one.
“The hand-painted murals, they’ll tag around the sides of it, but nobody ever just throws paint on it, and it’s just this one,” Canova explained.
Unfortunately, none of the nearby businesses had surveillance cameras in this area, making it difficult for police to investigate. However, using other technology, they now have a closer watch on the building in case anyone tries to vandalize it again.
“It’s a cowardly act, but it’s also criminal, so we’re going to find these people and hold them accountable,” said city spokesperson Chris Graham.
As for repainting the mural, Canova plans to get started in the coming days.