A mural in Long Island City, intended to honor a rapper from the neighborhood, is back to being a blank canvas.
The move came after the mural became the target of vandals not once, but twice, in just a few days.
The wall just outside Urban Upbound, along 13th Street and 40th Avenue, was covered entirely with black paint on Monday.
On Friday, the space was filled with a tribute to Albert Johnson, also known as the hip hop star Prodigy.
The 42-year-old grew up in nearby Queensbridge and was half of the rap duo Mobb Deep.
Johnson died last month from complications related to sickle cell anemia.
But, the mural honoring the late rapper didn't last long.
Sometime between Friday and Saturday, vandals ruined the mural using white paint.
The artists behind the pieve returned on Saturday afternoon to fix what the vandals had done.
However, between then and Monday morning the art work was defaced again, this time using red paint.
"You know it is just messed up. You show your love to the hood, but it’s like the hood isn’t going to love you back," said one local resident of the repeated vandalism.
"The amount of hate being showed towards this guy is terrible," said another.
The decision to paint over the mural with black paint on monday was made so that the artists behind it could create another mural with a different concept.
One resident hoped the artists would reconsider and said, "I am just hoping they come back and do it again, maybe get a camera".
The mural was supposed to be the centerpiece of a vigil scheduled for later this month.