Fort Lauderdale Police Searching for Driver Who Defaced Pride Flag Street Mural

Fort Lauderdale Police are investigating after a pride flag street mural was defaced with tire marks.

The incident happened back on Feb. 28 on Sebastian Street, where the 150-foot long flag is painted on the ground.

According to a police report, a surveillance camera captured the driver of a Ford F-250 pickup truck doing a burnout along the length of the mural before leaving the scene.

The video showed the truck pulling up to the mural and a person getting out of the passenger seat to apparently film the burnout.

"It is incredibly hurtful, it's something we work for at Pride to bring people together, to let them know we expel the hate and try to stay positive and loving, and to see this, which is completely senseless, it's completely filled with hate, it's unnecessary," said Miik Martorell, president of Pride Fort Lauderdale.

Other video from before the burnout incident showed a group of people on bicycles making multiple skid marks on the mural.

"I just see people that have time on their hands that are destructing property and spewing hate," said Mary Jo Whitehurst, who manages the Merriweather Resort.

The resort backs up to the street with the flag installation. Her cameras captured the pickup truck doing the "blowout."

Meanwhile police are now planning to review another surveillance video captured by the resort's cameras to determine whether the flag was intentionally defaced on a second occasion.

Whitehurst said some of her guests had mentioned bicyclists leaving behind skid marks a few days before the pickup truck incident.

The latest video, which she discovered on Wednesday, shows at least three young men on bicycles circling the flag, leaving several tire marks behind. At one point, one of them takes out his phone and begins filming.

The report said the tire marks do not appear to be able to be washed off without causing damage to the paint, and said the cost of the damage is over $1,000.

Police were reviewing the video and will decide whether they believe this was also an intentional act of vandalism.

"The Fort Lauderdale Police Department is deeply disturbed this incident took place," Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Patrick Lynn said in a statement. "We stand in support of our LGBTQ community and will continue to gather details surrounding this vandalism."

The installation had been on display for less than a month before it was defaced, officials said. It was a City of Fort Lauderdale project unveiled just in time for the Pride of the Americas in February.

"Take your hate somewhere else," said Mayor Dean Trantalis, with a very strong message for the culprits.  "We do not want you or anyone like you to be in our city. That's not what we are about here in Fort Lauderdale."

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 954-828-5771.