A Johnny Cash mural on a water tower sprung an inconveniently placed leak after it was shot in the groin area by a vandal. While many are seeing the humor, it's no laughing matter for Kingsland, Arkansas, which is losing thousands of gallons of water per day.
The Cleveland County Herald posted video of the Cash mural, which was painted onto the tower last week in Kingsland, a town of 400 people where the country music icon was born in 1932.
The discovery was made by Kingsland water office manager Betty Graham, who arrived at her office last Wednesday at about 5:30 a.m. to find the leak, which she initially thought was “routine overflow.” When daylight came, she realized the tower had been vandalized. It was still leaking this week, according to TND.
Kingsland is now losing about 30,000 gallons of water a day, according to Mayor Luke Neal.
“You kind of run on a tighter budget in small towns like this, because it’s really all you’ve got to work with. And things like this can set you back a little bit,” Neal told local news channel THV-11.
Neal said the leak is costing the town about $200 per day, in addition to a nearly $5,000 repair job in which crews will have to drain the tower.
Many community members were shocked and saddened at the damage that had been done to the city's attraction.
"It’s so sad when the city spent a lot of time and effort into getting a grant for someone to do this," one Facebook commentator wrote.
"This is just terrible. If they find out who it was they need to give them the max punishment. This is people’s livelihood, their water source," another person wrote.
"That is just awful. People have absolutely no sense anymore," a third added.
Kingsland officials are appealing to residents who might have information on the vandalism.
"People think it’s funny but a lot of hard work and effort went into getting the grant to get this painted," Graham said, according to the New York Post. "It’s sad that someone could do this."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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