VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Over the weekend a mural honoring military services was painted over.
The new owners of the Howard Johnson hotel, formerly the Flagship Resort Inn, have covered the mural with a coat of white paint.
The hotel has now responded saying the mural was peeling in multiple places and was letting water in the building.
They also say the peeling could have caused a code violation and a potential health problem for people staying in the building.
The artist, Sam Welty, posted a Facebook live videotelling the story behind the landmark. Since then, the hotel says they are in favor of working with Mr. Welty to redo the mural.
They also say they have tried to fix the mural for over a year but have had problems contacting Mr. Welty.
The mural was done before the VAB Management Group acquired the building.
The hotel says they never wanted to offend anyone, but wanted to fix the problems.
