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- Police are investigating political graffiti on Salt Lake City's 9th and 9th whale sculpture.
- The exact cost of the damage was not clear, but crews cleaned up the graffiti within hours after it was noticed.
- Salt Lake police said they are aware of the case but had no "investigative updates" or arrests.
SALT LAKE CITY — Police are investigating a "criminal mischief" incident after someone spray-painted a political message on "Out of the Blue," the massive whale sculpture leaping out of a roundabout in Salt Lake City's 9th and 9th neighborhood.
Residents noticed the graffiti Wednesday morning, which depicts two Nazi S.S. officers at a door where another person appears to be sitting on a toilet. The Nazi swastika logo was replaced with images of what appears to be the Republican and Democratic party logos on each officer. The message "Did you vote?" is spray-painted next to it.
The exact cost of the damage was not clear, but Salt Lake City crews also responded to the scene Wednesday and cleaned it off the whale. Salt Lake police said they are aware of the case but had no "investigative updates" or arrests.
It's not the first, but the possibly most noticeable vandalism incident since "Out of the Blue" was installed in the 9th and 9th neighborhood in April 2022, instantly becoming an attraction.
Utah artist Stephen Kesler designed the 23-foot-tall whale after the Salt Lake City Art Design Board picked his design to place atop a roundabout located at 900 South and 1100 East. Mike Murdock, another local artist, was chosen to design its multi-color mural pattern. The whole project cost a little over $100,000 from the city's Public Art Program.
Murdock declined to comment on the incident.
Since its installation, people have dressed the whale up for Halloween, left offerings at its base and held "whaleathons" along the roundabout loop. Gov. Spencer Cox even name-dropped the whale during a State of the State address when discussing Utah's robust 2022-23 snowpack.
However, its attention has attracted some unwanted consequences. Kristina Robb, chairwoman of the East Liberty Park Community Organization, which oversees the maintenance of the whale, said she wasn't entirely surprised by the recent vandalism because the organization often deals with incidents now that it has become a "pretty big landmark."
Most graffiti cases are small, usually involving what she calls "rambly, undefined script" that the city quickly cleans up and repaints. The latest case stood out because of its complexity and timing, taking place less than a week before Election Day.
"This piece was a little bit more detailed, had a stronger message, but (it's) not at all surprising that people would utilize public art or a public landmark to get their public message across," she said.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Salt Lake City police at 801-799-3000.
City officials said in 2022 they intended to have a rotating mural design for the whale, but its current paint scheme hasn't changed yet. Felicia Baca, director of the Salt Lake City Arts Council, said late last year the whale was still scheduled to have a new mural sometime over the next three years.
The current design has since been adopted in other parts of the neighborhood.
