Millions of Elvis Presley fans are in an uproar after the King of Rock n Roll’s iconic estate was vandalized. Museum workers discovered spray-painted graffiti on the outer walls of Graceland in Memphis, TN. Most of the graffiti supported “Black Lives Matter” and calls to “Defund the Police,” and also also “Abolish ICE.”
Additionally, some graffiti included “F— Trump” and “Defund MPD.” The Commercial Appeal first reported the property damage on Tuesday.
Before he passed in 1977, Presley lived for 20 years at the estate. Graceland opened to the public in 1982 and generally attracts around 600,000 visitors per year. The graffiti also covered thousands of tributes and messages fans have wrote to the King over the decades.
“This is totally uncalled for,” said Bill Stanley, Presley’s stepbrother. “One of the saddest days of my life. I mean, besides the day that Elvis passed away, this right here is right up next to it.”
Democratic State Representative Antonio Parkinson generally supported the graffiti. He argued, in a post written to Facebook, that people were upset because of the message. He wrote, “What’s the real issue here? Every visitor that has come to Graceland has written on that wall and there were no complaints. So, really, it’s WHAT was written, not the fact that it was written.”
Graceland workers used power washers to remove as much of the graffiti from the wall as possible on Sept. 1.
