No one, including the Clarkston Police, saw anything during the night.
But when the sun rose on the city’s downtown Tuesday morning, people arriving at work or out for a morning stroll were shocked to see vulgar images spray painted on the mural at 5 S. Main Street
Some stopped in The Clarkston News parking lot and stared in disbelief.
One person wondered if the large-scale pornographic depictions suggested the vandals? had feelings of personal inadequacy.
Others smirked, pulled out cell phones and took a picture.
‘I want to show my mom,? one woman said.
Across Washington Street, a sign at the office of attorney Bob Kostin’who’s married to 52/2 District Court Judge Kelley Kostin’was also hit with spray paint, and another vulgar image marred a rear wall at the Mills Mall on Washington.
Many who stopped to look noted the vandals couldn’t have painted quickly.
But Police Chief Dale LaCroix said the officer on duty during the midnight shift, Doug Fulton, who’s been with the Clarkston PD about a year, saw nothing. Zip.
‘He said it was real quiet; he only saw about two cars pass through all night,? LaCroix said, noting he personally didn’t see the vandalism on his way to the station about 6:30 a.m. ‘He was running radar part of the night, and he sat at the park a long time’we had some trouble with kids down there earlier in the day.?
Fulton also reported doing a business check’walking the city’s downtown business area, around 2 a.m., and making a traffic stop at the corner of Washington and Main around 6 a.m., LaCroix said.
Clarkston City Manager Dennis Ritter said the vandalism was the worst he’s seen in 25 years of government service.
‘It’s just absolutely disgusting,? he said. ‘I’m quite angry and at this point words are pretty difficult to come by.?
Ritter, who said he hadn’t yet talked with LaCroix and therefore had ‘no comment? on the police officer missing the work in progress, said his first action was to call the building’s owner and ask that graffiti on the mural be covered immediately.
Ritter also said he felt the mural invited the vandals into town, and ‘provided the opportunity? for vulgar graffiti.
‘It all goes back to the disgusting matter of the mural itself,? he said. ‘I’m not a fan of how it’s divided the community, and I don’t like the negative impact it’s had on the city’s image.?
But artist Michelle Tynan took the news in stride, and even with a bit of humor; it was back to the drawing board’literally’after she asked for and received permission to finish the painting.
Tynan, who owns Drawing Board Studios, was fired from the project Aug. 20 after more than three years of work on the 3,000-square-foot mural, which she originally estimated would take about 12 weeks to complete.
Jim Sherman Sr., who owns the building and is the former publisher of The Clarkston News, said he was tired of waiting for her to finish.
Tynan was shocked and devastated when the news came, she said, but asked Sherman for a meeting and worked all weekend to put together a new plan.
Armed with her paint and brushes, two large pieces of drywall and, apparently, a very determined mind set, she put together a modified vision of the completed mural.
‘If I’d know I was going to be fired I would have changed the way I was doing things before now,? she said. ‘It’s hard to stay inside the boundaries when you get free reign on a project this big.?
Initially, Sherman’s only requirements were for the original building fa’ade to be incorporated into the mural, and that he and his dog Shayna be pictured, as well.
While Tynan didn’t have time to paint in all the details of the finished project she’s preparing to paint, plans for the mural have changed’but not drastically.
‘It’s much more evolved than it was a week ago, and it feels good to see it how it will look when it’s finished,? she said, noting she and Sherman agreed on a timeframe for completion. ‘It’s the same picture’I’m not taking anything out’but more defined.?
Sherman noted last week the decision to finally fire Tynan from the project’often controversial among residents’was not one that came easy.
In recent days, however, Sherman said he heard from those with a different perspective.
‘Part of the reason I told her to continue is all the calls I’ve had from people who think I should let her finish,? he said.
Besides, he said, Tynan was compelling in her argument for another shot.
‘She makes you feel confident she can get it done,? he said. ‘Bless her heart. I feel we’ll all be pleased with the way it looks when it’s done.?