The George Floyd mural on the side of the EOS Lounge in downtown Santa Barbara has been erased.

The mural had been a target of repeated vandalism over the years.

Sources told Noozhawk that the owner of the building, who four years ago gave permission for the mural to appear on the side wall, decided to have the mural removed and have a new mural installed.

Santa Barbara City Councilman Oscar Gutierrez said removing the mural breaks his heart.

“The mural being painted over is disappointing, but I understand the difficult position that the artist and property owners were in,” Gutierrez said. “It breaks my heart to know that there are members of our community that are so full of hate that they are willing to deface an expression of empathy and tolerance.”

Gutierrez said the city is working to streamline the process to have more murals painted around town.

The mural was painted in 2020 by Griffin Lounsbury, who goes by the handle xgriffinx. He painted Floyd’s face in shades of blue, red and black, and Chadillac Green, a painter and tattoo artist, used spray and house paint to create the phrase “Please, I can’t breathe” in purple, black and green. 

Floyd, a black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes while attempting to arrest him. Floyd spoke the words, “Please, I can’t breathe,” before he died, as captured on cellphone video.

The killing sparked weeks of nationwide protests and rioting.

The officer was later convicted of murder in the incident, which also prompted reforms of police training and use-of-force policies in police departments throughout the country, including Santa Barbara County.

Both of the artists declined to comment on the mural’s removal. In 2020, xgriffinx said he needed to express himself after he saw the murder on video.

“I felt really sad,” he said. “It hit me straight to the heart. It’s messed up, you know. I don’t think anyone should be treated that way.”

James Joyce III, founder of Coffee with a Black Guy, a social impact movement designed to unite communities, said the mural’s removal indicates that problems around race remain.

“That mural represented Santa Barbara’s small part in a global movement that was catalyzed by the killing of George Floyd,” Joyce said. “The mural brought together many in our community.

“Its erasure has refocused a highlight on the division that continues to exist within our community and seems about in line with the intentional and systemic erasure of black contributions in America. But as the saying goes, I guess all good things must come to an end.”