Tina Turner mural vandalized with swastika symbol in North Carolina

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Sunday, December 29, 2019
Tina Turner mural vandalized with swastika symbol in North Carolina
Police are looking for the person who vandalized a mural of Tina Turner on the storefront of an Asheville, North Carolina record shop.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- A long-standing mural of the legendary Tina Turner was defaced with a red swastika-like symbol in Asheville, North Carolina.

The mural was located on the pulldown storefront of the Static Age Records shop but the owners say they decided to paint over it so the community wasn't subjected to its message.

Store owner Jesse McSwain told WLOS that for years his business has been a place of inclusion and he thinks there are people out there who don't like that.

"There's occasional graffiti or whatever, but never, like, racist symbols," said McSwain. "It was a person of color, the mural that got tagged with a big racist symbol, so that's notable."

McSwain has created a GoFundMe page to help create a new mural.

They've already surpassed their goal of $800 to pay for painting materials and for the artists' commission.

McSwain says extra money will now be donated to the Southern Poverty Law center.