Aretha Franklin Mural Vandalized in Detroit

A mural honoring Aretha Franklin was vandalized in Detroit on Saturday, The Detroit Free Press reports.

Richard Wilson, the London-based artist who drew the mural depicting a Franklin album cover, said he had to fix up the piece in the city’s Eastern Market after someone poured paint on his work.

“I finished it yesterday evening … all happy,” he said. “I came back this morning just to tidy up a bit, check if there’s anything I missed or anything.”

Wilson said he spent 12 days working on the piece for the Murals in the Market public art event.

Richard Wilson, a London-based artist in Detroit for #MuralsInTheMarket, is fixing up his mural featuring Aretha Franklin and other famous Detroit records after it was splattered by paint left in a cherry picker and inadvertently vandalized overnight. @freep pic.twitter.com/qxGwKYBNE1

— Aleanna Siacon (@AleannaSiacon) September 29, 2018

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“It’s like they had a paint party here, and it’s just splattered all over the place,” Wilson said.

The Queen of Soul died on Aug. 16 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.