Vandals strike Ashland's Art Alley

Feb. 7—ASHLAND — Ashland's Art Alley was vandalized with obscene graffiti this week.

Madeline Tipton, of The Tipton Creative, said she was alerted to the damage by building owner Paul Castle. She said she immediately went to her work to see the damage and started working to remove images of body parts that had been drawn with a Sharpie pen.

Tipton said she was able to remove the marks using all-purpose cleaner, Magic Eraser and rubbing alcohol. She said the paint she uses makes removing marks easier.

At least five murals and four artists were affected.

Tipton said she has no idea who vandalized the images or why.

"I don't know if it was just for their own entertainment," she said. "Last week when I was downtown, I noticed there was one on a storefront window on 15th Street. There was no store open in it."

She said the office of Visit Ashland KY experienced vandalism on its bulletin board.

Tipton said she had a goal in posting a description and images of the incident.

"I wanted to turn this into a positive situation because even though we did get vandalism, it's the first time there has been vandalizing in our Art Alley in its two or three years of existence," she said. "The murals have been on the riverfront for at least 20 years and vandalism hasn't been an issue. I'm very thankful the community supports public art and businesses support public art."

(606) 326-2661 — lward@dailyindependent.com