A statue of the bust in honor of police victim Breonna Taylor was smashed by vandals this past weekend, prompting reports of an investigation by Oakland police.
The memorial, which was installed two weeks ago in downtown Latham Square, was smashed in several places on Saturday, reports ABC subsidiary KGO-TV.
The bust contains a memorial plaque that reads, “Say her name, Breonna Taylor,” the station said.
“Initially, I was dumbfounded and shocked and hurt and angry,” artist Leo Carson, who made the sculpture, told the outlet.
“Just a whole bunch of emotions,” he said. “It felt like I was personally attacked, and also attacked Breonna Taylor and the BLM movement.”
Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT technician, was shot dead during a raid on March 13 at her home in Louisville, Kentucky.
The death of Taylor and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 during police custody was one of the catalysts that led to massive Black Lives Matter protests around the world, including in the Bay Area city.
Oakland police said in a statement that the report on the vandalism of the Taylor bust had been filed and that police were investigating the incident, Mercury News said.
Carson said he paid for the statue “out of my own pocket.”
He hopes to raise enough money to repair the statue and make it bronze to make it more durable. He launched a $ 5,000 GoFundMe page.