LOVE Sculpture Defaced With Anti-Pope Graffiti

Just a day before Robert Indiana’s AMOR sculpture was unveiled on the steps of the Art Museum, a graffiti artist took a can of spray paint to the artist’s iconic equivalent in Love Park. The LOVE sculpture was tagged with “#FuckThePope.” A photo posted last night on the Facebook group page “South Silly” showed the damage:

The verbiage echoes the sentiment of a trending Twitter hashtag of the same name. People are using it to gripe about Francis’s visit to the City of Brotherly Love this week. Some examples:

https://twitter.com/TheJordynShow/status/646136508835954688

#FuckThePope The Catholic Church is just a criminal organization!

— Charlie Hernandez (@13_Charlie) September 8, 2015

Here is one boy that #PopeFrancis won't touch. Stay outta #philly to @Pontifex I say NOpE #fuckthepope pic.twitter.com/hVZCx6eE6i

— Black Pope 👼🏾🙏🏾 (@hollaatyaboyn) September 21, 2015

Those tweets will live on. The graffiti, on the other hand, will not. As of publish time, the LOVE sculpture has been cleaned and made ready for his Holiness’s arrival:

Photo by Dan McQuade

I reached out to the City for comment, and it appears the graffiti barely phased them. Margot Berg, public art director for the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, said it was noticed last night and promptly erased. She told me the removal process was simple and something they have to deal with often: “Unfortunately, the LOVE sculpture is subject to near-constant graffiti and stickers,” she said.