LOS ANGELES – Less than 24 hours after city workers painted over graffiti in downtown Los Angeles, taggers blanketed the 2nd Street Tunnel again with more spray paint.
A video shared with FOX 11 from GraffTV1 shows dozens of taggers recently at the location.
“Within the same day, the same night, you just see a mob came through and started doing their thing,” said one tagger who wanted to remain anonymous. “Yeah, it’s wrong. You’d get in trouble, but it’s a stress reliever at the same time.”
On Sunday, the roughly quarter-mile-long tunnel could be seen blanketed by words, symbols, and characters, while some empty spray cans also littered the curb.
“I understand [some] see it as vandalism or what not,” said Marcos Matta, a Los Angeles resident. “[However], a lot of people also see it as artistic expression.”
According to one witness who lives nearby, police have been there at least once while taggers were spray-painting.
“I actually was there when the cops were rolling up,” said Ryan Rohtla, a nearby resident. “[The police] were like, ‘Yo, can you not do that?’ They were stopping people one by one, but everyone was trying to finish their art real quick.”
Last year, an abandoned skyrise in downtown Los Angeles became the center of a vandalism debate, becoming known as “Graffiti Towers.”
FOX 11 reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department Sunday to see if any arrests have been made relating to the 2nd Street Tunnel, but so far, no response.
It’s unclear if city crews will repaint over the 2nd Street Tunnel graffiti.
“[It’s a brand-new canvas, right?” said Matta. “You’re just wasting taxpayer money, painting and materials. It’s going to be the same thing.”