Vandals write 'build that wall' on U of L statue

An iconic statue on the University of Louisville campus was vandalized Wednesday morning with a Donald Trump remark.

The Thinker statue, located in front of Grawemeyer Hall in the southwest part of the Belknap campus, had the words "Trump Build That Wall" written on it in pink chalk. Campus-goers noticed the remark Wednesday morning, just a few hours following the real-estate mogul's victory in Tuesday's presidential election.

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John Drees, a spokesman for U of L, said the statue had been cleaned off by noon Wednesday. He said U of L Police took a report of the incident. He did not provide any other details.

Samantha Smith, a student in U of L's Brandeis College of Law, wrote in a message to the Courier-Journal that she noticed the graffiti as she was walking to class Wednesday. She said she was shocked by what she saw.

"One of the reasons I went to U of L was for how open and tolerant the institution was," wrote Smith, who was born in Panama but grew up in Louisville. "That kind of writing alienates a huge group of people."

Smith posted a picture of the graffiti on Facebook with the caption "I really don't know what to say here." She said she did so because she had seen other posts from friends on social media saying that the election results should be "handled gracefully" by Hillary Clinton supporters.

"Seeing that along with my Colombian mother genuinely concerned for how people view her because she's not 'American,' that was kind of the last straw," Smith wrote. "For someone to deface a beautiful gift (the statue) like that was just too much."

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The Thinker statue on campus is the first large-scale bronze cast of the Auguste Rodin sculpture, according to the U of L website. Rodin personally supervised its casting in Paris. It came out of the mold in December 1903 and was completed in early 1904.

The statue has been sitting in front of Grawemeyer Hall since 1949. It was originally sent to the United States for the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis and was displayed in the Walters Art Museum after it was bought by a private owner. Lawyer and art lover Arthur Hopkins bought the statue for the city of Louisville, which decided to put it at U of L.

Justin Sayers can be reached at 502-582-4252 or jsayers@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @_JustinSayers.