“There’s creative people and there’s destructive people in this world, and unfortunately destruction is easier,” San Diego State lecturer in the School of Art Design and Art History Neil Shigley said.

Shigley is the portrait artist of the recently vandalized Martin Luther King Jr. mural along State Route 94. Bright pink spray-painted letters spelling out “OCP Kings” was splattered across the 20-foot-high, 225-foot-long mural last Friday. San Diego police told Channel 10News, OCP stands for “Out Causing Panic.” This phrase has ties to a gang in South Bay known for vandalizing.

The mural depicts Martin Luther King Jr. preaching, praying and praising among doves and bright colors.

Once the graffiti was reported, Shigley was called. He said he’s still in shock today.

“Whatever the motivation is, I can’t even begin to figure out,” Shigley said. “Whoever did it was pretty committed because that was a giant giant tag they did.”

The mural is only two months old, but Philip Matzigkeit, also an SDSU lecturer in the school of design, has been working on the piece for years. In 2005, Matzigkeit secured a $300,000 grant to create his work of art. With Matzigkeit’s vision driving the project, the mural was officially completed on Oct. 7 with a public dedication on Oct. 20.

Shigley there was security on site while he painted the mural. He said Matzigkeit was concerned because there was a giant scaffold in front of the mural that was readily accessible, but no tagging occurred during the painting process.

Due to the fear that it could be vandalized, the mural has a coated layer that makes graffiti easier to clean up.

Seven Caltrans workers sent to was the wall with cold water discovered the pink paint could be washed away.

Shigley said the mural is still pink as of this morning.

“Whoever tagged the wall, it’s really disrespecting not just me, it’s not just the mural, it’s disrespecting that man,” Shigley said. “It’s a tribute to his life, his character, his legacy.”

Shigley mentioned a recent satirical piece appearing in the San Diego Reader that criticized the mural for violating the separation of church and state. The article concluded by saying, “Where’s a tagger when you need one?”

Shigley said he hopes the article had no relation to the tagging of the actual mural. He added that if the Reader has so much power to influence, he hopes they will start using their influence positively.

Shigley said although this is a devastating situation, there has been a lot of positive things that have come out of it. Shigley said the tagging brought a lot of attention to the mural and has spurred conversation about Martin Luther King Jr., one of the missions of the mural.

He said this incident has also started a conversation about adding lighting to the side of the freeway.

“This is a cowardly act done under the cover of darkness,” Shigley said. “Maybe if it was lit, I don’t think this person would have done it in the light.”

Shigley lives three miles away and says he drives by it every day. He said he can’t wait to be able to drive by and not see the pink paint.

“I think it’s coming off and hopefully it won’t happen again, but gosh, there are no guarantees.”