A colorful pro-law enforcement message was left on the street outside the police department in downtown Tampa, Florida, recently.
“Over the weekend, volunteers painted a “Back the Blue” mural on Franklin Street dedicated to those who work at Tampa Police Department’s headquarters,” according to Fox 13.
The group Community Patriots got permission to create the mural so officers would see it when they arrived for their shifts Monday morning, the outlet noted.
On Sunday, nonprofit law enforcement charity Team South Florida shared aerial photos online of the art that incorporated a heart and an American flag:
“Thank you to the City of Tampa and the Mayor for approving the permits. Thank you to the roughly 40+ patriots who spent over 4 hours working on this. Truly amazing when the silent majority is fed up and decides to speak up,” the post read.
A group called Back the Blue Florida also helped paint the mural, according to WBNS.
“We had people that were just walking past the site while we were working last night who picked up rollers and joined in with us and while they did that, they would send messages back home to people who were with law enforcement,” group organizer Kelli Campbell said.
The project was completed Saturday night, Campbell noted.
She continued:
This is a very visible, very big statement that says we are here. There are many of us. We care about you. We care about you going out every day putting your life on the line for us. We support everything that you are doing, and that we know that the majority of law enforcement are good people.
The group Drones above the Bay who took aerial photos of the street art claimed on Facebook Sunday that the volunteers had “painted the first ‘Back the Blue’ mural located on East Madison Street next to the Tampa Police Department in Downtown Tampa.”