Campus police looking for suspects who vandalized Brigham Young statue
The Brigham Young statue stands on BYU's campus covered in red latex paint after an early-morning vandalism in Provo on Monday, June 15, 2020.
The Abraham O. Smoot Administration Building sign stands on BYU's campus with a red "X" written in spray paint after an early-morning vandalism in Provo on Monday, June 15, 2020.
The Brigham Young statue stands on BYU's campus covered in red latex paint after an early-morning vandalism in Provo on Monday, June 15, 2020.
The Brigham Young statue stands on BYU's campus covered in red latex paint after an early-morning vandalism in Provo on Monday, June 15, 2020.
Brigham Young University campus police are searching for two people who they say vandalized an on-campus statue of Brigham Young, the private university’s namesake, Monday.
BYU Police Lt. Rich Christianson said there isn’t a lot of information available as the incident is still under investigation.
From what officials have collected, in the early hours of Monday morning, two individuals vandalized the Brigham Young statue by pouring red, latex paint over the front of the 10-to-12-foot statue and writing “racist” in spray paint across the pedestal.
The sign outside of the Abraham O. Smoot Administration Building was also vandalized with a large, red “X” in spray paint, Christianson said.
“It looks like they hit it and left,” he said. “From video surveillance, there might be two individuals, but we’re still working on that right now.”
Officials currently do not have a description of the individuals involved but both are facing potential criminal mischief charges for the estimated $1,000 in damages, he said.
Paint from the incident was cleaned up Monday. Christianson said police believe the vandalism occurred between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. as the paint was fairly fresh when it was discovered.
The incident was reported to campus police just after 6:30 a.m. Monday and is currently labeled as an active criminal mischief investigation as of Friday.
“We’re hyper vigilant,” Christianson said. “We try to prevent this stuff from happening in the first place, and we’re keeping an eye out.”
Anyone with information regarding the incident can call BYU campus police at (801) 422-2222.
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