TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Police Department is investigating after finding artwork and a city kiosk was vandalized at Perry Harvey Park.
The artwork that was vandalized is one of four major pieces that tell the story of the Black community and Historic Central Avenue – made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the agency explains in a news release.
"We fought so hard for this. It is very saddening. It is very sad and heartbreaking," Clearance Jones who lives in the neighborhood said.
A space to honor Black history destroyed in minutes. Crime scene tape is now left behind where gashes outshine beautiful art and a city kiosk is covered up.
Part of the IKE Smart City kiosk program, the kiosk was designed to "help residents and visitors explore the city." It's one out of 30 found throughout Tampa.
"The vandalism of this artwork is an insult to our community and to all those who contributed to its creation," Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a statement. "It is disappointing to think anyone would cause destruction to this artistic representation of our city's history.
"We are working to identify those responsible for this senseless act."
Detectives are now searching for just one person they believe is responsible, watching surveillance video from city cameras. As the community questions why this happened, police still don't know why.
"I don't think there's any motive behind it," Major Eric Defelice said.
But people visiting the park to look at the damage think it was intentional.
"As far as I'm concerned, this is a hate crime. It was certainly intentional, perhaps done by more than one person. I will contribute to a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of who was guilty of this," Fred Hearns said.
The historian who works to preserve Tampa's Black history was devastated after seeing what was left behind. Someone had told him there was damage to the art, but he says he never expected it to be that bad.
"A hundred years ago, almost half the Black population of this city lived in this neighborhood. That's why this area is so important," Hearns said. "We need to learn our history and that's another thing about this area that was so important. If you never picked up a book and read about the Black history of Tampa, if you visited this park and looked at the murals and looked at the carvings on the sidewalk and on the walls, you learn a lot about the Black history of this area."
Each mural depicts the history of "The Scrub," one of Tampa's oldest and largest Black neighborhoods.
Tuesday evening, cameras were being pulled out, not to document history, but the harm done there. Police say this is the third time the murals have been vandalized, but this time is the worst.
"I just hope they repair it quickly as possible because if this was any other city park, the repairs will be getting done as soon as possible. I just hope the city works diligently," Jones said.
Detectives are working on gathering evidence and developing leads to find those responsible.
Anyone with information in connection to this vandalism incident is asked to reach out to the Tampa Police Department at 813-231-6130 or Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 800-873-8477.