Less than a day after city workers painted an iconic tunnel in downtown Los Angeles white, vandals tagged it again.
Footage posted on Instagram by @grafftv1 – described as “the leading source of Los Angeles graffiti culture” — shows the aftermath of the “full-force takeover” at the 2nd Street Tunnel on Wednesday.
“What had been a clean slate at noon became by midnight a living gallery of street expression, filled with burners, rollers and painted signatures from L.A.’s most well-known vandals,” the Instagram post reads. “The message from the streets is clear: paint [the tunnel] white, and Los Angeles will paint it back.”
It is not known whether the city will paint the tunnel white again.
The 2nd Street Tunnel, which was opened in 1924 to relieve congestion in the nearby 3rd Street Tunnel, is a widely-photographed location, especially for fans and makers of cars; the Los Angeles Times in 2009 referred to it as “the most recognizable city landmark most Americans have never heard of.”
The 2009 article noted that, between 2006 and its publishing, 73 commercials for auto brands were shot in the tunnel.
It’s also been used in many movies and music videos; some notable movies shot in the 2nd Street Tunnel include “Blade Runner,” “The Terminator,” “Independence Day” and “Kill Bill,” among many others.
Music video lovers may recognize the tunnel from “Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls, “Grenade” by Bruno Mars and “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd.
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