Catoosa's Blue Whale Open Again After Vandals Spray Graffiti Inside

One of the biggest Route 66 attractions has reopened after it was hit by vandals. They sprayed graffiti on the inside of the Blue Whale.

"Pretty much on every surface from the floor to all around the roof inside his head there was spray paint and symbols and phrases and kind of yucky stuff,” Blue Whale Park Director Liz Huckleby said.

Visitors arrived just in time Friday, after the paint dried, from as far away as Chicago, the UK and Alabama, where Jamie Kinney is from.

"It's actually kinda fascinating,” Kinney said. “I wish we could come back on a day you could go swimming but you know just to know the history. This is fabulous."

Her 7-year-old grandson Chance is fascinated by the whale, too. "Cause they're big, and the blow hole,” Chance Winfield said.

After two days of painting, city workers were able to get the whale ready for visitors again. But there is still some work to do to get everything back to normal.

The first few steps into the whale, visitors would normally discover a hole in the top of the whale's head, but it's boarded up for now.

"Usually you can climb up in there. And it's a great photo op, kids usually will stick their head out the holes and then their parents kinda stand out here and take pictures,” Huckleby said. “So it's a fantastic photo op that I hate people have to miss out on right now."

Huckleby said that feature is closed until the city figures out how to keep this from happening again.

Just last month, the community got together to brainstorm ideas on how to improve the Route 66 landmark, Catoosa and Rogers County.

"We just wanna make it a better place to hang out so it's not just a stop, get your picture and leave again, but it's a come and stay for a few hours and enjoy yourself,” Huckleby said. Huckleby said supporting the gift shop will help fund improvements to the attraction.