Arrest made after ‘MAGA’ billboard in Kansas vandalized with ‘BLM,’ sheriff says

Local law enforcement has made an arrest after a political billboard was vandalized last week.

The Cowley County Sheriff’s Office was called Aug. 16 to the 25000 block of U.S. 77 north of Arkansas City for a report of criminal damage of property to a MAGA billboard. Sheriff David Falletti said in a news release on Tuesday that while an arrest has been made, the investigation is ongoing. Additional details on who was arrested were not released.

MAGA is the acronym for President Donald Trump’s slogan “make America great again.”

The original sign had a red background. Big, white letters spelled “MAGA.” The sign also read “vote Republican,” a photo on the sheriff’s office Facebook page shows. The vandal used blue paint to cover most of the billboard, then spelled “resist” and “BLM” with yellow spray paint.

BLM is the acronym for Black Lives Matter, a social justice movement with a focus on police brutality in the Black community.

“To those that defaced the sign, that action is not Free Speech but outright criminal behavior,” State Sen. Larry Alley, a Winfield Republican, said in a Facebook post about the vandalism.

“I hope the law enforcement community is working overtime to prosecute whoever committed this crime.”