Vandals burn portraits of fallen heroes with cigarettes in Baytown

BAYTOWN, Tx (KTRK) -- Who would do such a thing? That's what Baytown residents are asking after someone vandalized a well-known artist's studio by burning cigarette holes in portraits of fallen soldiers.

Ken Pridgeon runs the Portrait of a Warrior Memorial Art Gallery on W. Texas Avenue in Baytown. The paintings that were vandalized were on the outside of the building. Hurricane Harvey flooded the studio and the paintings that were inside the building had been moved.

"It's disrespectful to do something like that," said Pridgeon, who has dedicated his life to painting the images of more than 300 Texas heroes who fought and died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

VIDEO: Take a tour of Ken Pridgeon's art studio


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