'Be Someone' graffiti painted over with political slogan

Sunday, September 13, 2020

'Be Someone' graffiti painted over with political slogan

The well-known overpass artwork is gone again. This time, it's been replaced with a political phrase.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Gone again.

After returning to the north-facing side of a railroad bridge over I-10 and I-45 north of downtown in August, the 'Be Someone' graffiti has been painted over with #VOTEORDIE.

The latest vandalism was committed by someone overnight Friday.

The #VOTEORDIE phrase comes before the 2020 presidential election in November.

The "Be Someone" graffiti returned in late August after it was changed to say "Save Our Children" in early August. The phrase began as a noble awareness campaign to combat human trafficking, but variations have been thrust into controversy recently by conspiracy theorists who allege that children are being abducted in large numbers to supply a child trafficking ring. Earlier this month, followers of a movement known as QAnon flooded the nonprofit National Human Trafficking Hotline with phone calls, straining resources needed to track real missing children, ABC News reported.

Before that, the sign was changed to "George Floyd." This came as the nation prosted for the 46-year-old's life, which ended under horrifically visible circumstances that prompted many Americans to voice their opposition to social injustice directed at the African American community.

Last November, the words "Be Sus" were shown painted on the trestle. It wasn't known how the altered saying fit into the context of the "Be Someone" message.

The iconic graffiti has been vandalized or altered before, only for the 'Be Someone' phrase to reappear.

In the past, the person behind the art spoke anonymously with ABC13.

"I get it. It's vandalism, but it's in a different sense, too, if you just take those words and apply it to yourself, it might mean something to you," he told ABC13 in 2016.

Though it's considered a tourist attraction by some, it's still graffiti. The message adorns a railroad bridge owned by Union Pacific Railroad.

Union Pacific officials have discouraged the graffiti in the past due to property damage and dangers around trains.

"Often, by the time a trespasser hears the train, it's too late," railroad officials said in a statement.