Rice University memorial vandalized with Trump graffiti messages

Friday, January 13, 2017
Berlin Wall memorial vandalized at Rice University
Rice University students upset at Berlin Wall memorial vandalized, Marla Carter reports.

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A section of the Berlin Wall at Rice University was vandalized with graffiti mentioning President-elect Donald Trump.

"That's really special to Rice. It's on every tour," said Sammy Elliot, a Rice University student.

Overnight someone spray-painted "Trump 16" and "Aloha" on a historic piece of the wall.

"I was surprised because there aren't a lot of Trump supporters on campus so that was just surprising," said Courtney Klashman, a student.

Vandals also spray-painted two shipping containers on campus that had been decorated with art.

On one of the containers the vandals wrote, "Trump Baby" and "Hashtag Deport Spanos," possibly referring to the owner of the San Diego Chargers. Just recently, the Chargers announced they are leaving the city of San Diego.

"I think it's not fair to do that to campus and a really visible part of campus," said Cindy Nguyen.

Crews removed the spray paint from the containers but had to cover the piece of the Berlin Wall because it requires special graffiti removal. Since it is a historic piece, the university had to call an art contractor to assist with the removal.

There is an anti-graffiti spray on the piece of the wall so they should be able to remove the graffiti. There is black graffiti already on the piece -- it was there to begin with. The black graffiti is a part of the historic piece.

However, the blue graffiti is not supposed to be there. Once the blue graffiti is removed, another layer of anti-graffiti spray will be added.