Mayor Bill Peduto condemned on Thursday the third act of vandalism against a Pittsburgh-based Mexican business in recent months.
Someone defaced a mural painted on the back of the Las Palmas grocery store and taqueria in Brookline.
Using black spray paint, the vandal crossed out the mural's artfully painted message, “Bienvenidos a Brookline” (Welcome to Brookline), and scrawled the words “ILLEGAL TRESPASSERS,” “LIARS” and “AMERICA HATERS.”
The mural was designed by a group of Brashear High School students who rallied in December to paint over a racially motivated message scrawled across the garage door: “Go back to Mexico.”
“Pittsburgh is a city built on immigrants who saw the opportunity to build businesses here, make a stake in their neighborhoods and raise their families here,” Peduto wrote in a statement. “These incidents do not represent how our city truly is, and I urge anyone who may have witnessed anything related to this crime to report it to the police.”
Police responded Thursday morning to the report of vandalism.
Las Palmas operates Mexican grocery stores and taco stands in Brookline, Beechview and Oakland.
In January, someone threw a chunk of concrete through a front window of the Las Palmas Casa Rasta restaurant in Beechview.
City Councilwoman Natalie Rudiak, who represents Brookline, said “Brookline and our entire Pittsburgh community need to pull together to combat this hate.”
Public Safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler said there was no surveillance video of the vandalism.
“We don't have any suspects,” Toler said.
She encouraged the public to be watchful.
Natasha Lindstrom is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 412-380-8514 or nlindstrom@tribweb.com.
