City Road Crews Paint Over Street Mural Honoring Marine

A two-decade old street painting to honor a Marine has been removed as the City of Tulsa painted over it Thursday.

The mural was painted 18 years ago near 71st and Sheridan by Nick Ede and his neighbors.

"We've put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this, and we did this to honor a Marine, someone who fought for this country," Ede said.

Ede designed it to honor his neighbor's Marine son when he returned from Iraq. He's disappointed the city chose to cover the flag mural.

"We just don't feel it's right that the city comes in and does this," Ede said.

G.T. Bynum, the mayor of Tulsa, said the cover up is part of the city's no-tolerance policy on unapproved murals.

"Nothing is allowed to be painted on a city street, regardless of how great the message is, and so it is being removed," Bynum said.

The removal comes four months after Tulsa's City Council decided to cover an unapproved Black Lives Matter painting in the Greenwood District.

Mayor Bynum said someone recently complained about the flag mural, leaving Ede wondering, why now?

"Nobody has an objection to it until just recently," Ede said.

Neighbors said they don't know when or if they'll repaint the flag.