Elvis Presley’s famous Graceland estate in Memphis was defaced by vandals overnight with the scripts “Black Lives Matter” and “Defund the Police”.

Protest slogans were painted in thick black and orange letters on the stone wall surrounding the King’s Palace along Elvis Presley Street. Commercial appeal I mentioned it first.

Graceland, where Elvis lived for 20 years before his death in August 1977, is also tarnished by other popular activist phrases such as “Abolish ICE”, “Defund MPD” and “F *** Trump”.

The spray-painted letters have covered the thousands of tributes written by Elvis by fans who have visited the King’s house since it became an official museum in 1982.

Vandalism was discovered by museum workers early Tuesday morning.

Elvis fans were outraged at seeing this landmark mutilated.

Alice Self said, ‘We were just driving this morning and looking WMC5. We couldn’t believe it. We were just stunned.

Elvis’s brother, Bill Stanley, also described how terrified he was that someone would defame the king’s house.

Stanley said, “It’s absolutely unjustified.” One of the saddest days of my life. I mean, besides the day Elvis died, this one is right next to him.

Democratic Rep. Antonio Parkinson gave a different opinion on graffiti, in the face of the collective voice of anger, writing, “What is the real problem here?” Every visitor who came to Graceland wrote on that wall and there was no complaint. So, really, it’s what Books, not the fact that he wrote.

A Graceland spokesman declined to comment on the vandalism. Workers using electric washing machines were seen removing graffiti on the walls by mid-morning Tuesday.

But the Elvis House wasn’t the only iconic landmark that was vandalized in the city from late Monday through the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Vandals also hit the Levitt Shell concert venue in Overton Park, spraying lewd phrases, including F *** TRUMP and F *** STRICKLAND, referring to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, plus’ EAT THE RICH and other phrases.

The outdoor amphitheater was the place where Elvis performed his first paid concert on July 30, 1954.

A Levitt Shell spokesperson said it was the sixth time they had been sabotaged this year.

The venue has already been hit financially by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and is currently grappling with a budget deficit of $ 800,000.

Memphis police said that because the building is a historic place, the cost to repaint Levitt Shell could be around $ 150,000.

“This is why this is a devastating situation that we see this morning,” said Natalie Wilson, CEO of Levitt Shell. “It’s getting worse.”

While she doesn’t condone graffiti, Wilson says, she hopes the Historic Space is a place where the community can recover.

“Distorting our theater is not appropriate; however, we acknowledge their pain and want to say to our community, ‘It’s time for conversations to be deeper, more productive and that change happens with good communication,’ ‘Wilson said.

As the vandals were marked overnight by Big ‘I. [Heart] Memphis mural on York’s Cooper Street, where the same graffiti themes for “BLM”, “EAT THE RICH” and “DEFUND POLICE” are painted everywhere.

Cases of vandalism were discovered on 901, an unofficial celebration of Memphis culture that takes place on September 1 each year.

Memphis police are investigating vandalism. Meanwhile, a debate raged online over the identity of the saboteurs on social media, with some blaming left-wing “thugs” for the damage and others claiming that “hackers” seeking to discredit the Black Lives Matter movement were responsible.

Elvis Presley lived in Graceland for two decades before his death on August 16, 1977, at the age of 42.

The estate – located along Highway 51 South, known as Elvis Presley Boulevard – opened to the public in 1982 and attracts about 600,000 visitors annually.