A West Chicago man was taken into custody, accused of allegedly spray-painting the “Faith, Hope and Charity” Freemasons’ mural in downtown Naperville.
Carlos Marcos, 43, has been charged with misdemeanor criminal defacement of property after allegedly painting black and red spots on the mural located at Main Street and Jackson Avenue. Authorities say the incident took place around 11:15 p.m. Monday night.
Reaction from the Naperville Masonic Temple Association
Naperville Masonic Temple Association president Don Cowart said he “felt sorry” for Marcos and offered his group’s assistance.
“(He’s) got to have an issue or two, and I hope he gets some proper attention for it,” said Cowart. “And if there’s anything we can do to help him, we’d love to be able to do that.”
Marcos’ motivation for allegedly defacing the mural is unknown.
History & future of the downtown Naperville mural
The mural was painted in 2011 by artist Marianne Lisson Kuhn to honor the 174-year history of Freemasons in Naperville.
The mural depicts George Washington and Naperville founder Joseph Naper donning Masonic aprons. They are pictured with 24 other masons from both Naperville and around the country.
The art was commissioned by the Naperville Century Walk and sponsored by the Euclid Masonic Lodge 65, the oldest Masonic Lodge in DuPage County – of which Joseph Naper was a founding member.
Cowart has reached out to Lisson Kuhn, and says there are preliminary plans to replace the mural.
“It’s a beautiful piece of artwork, and we were very fortunate to have her interest in doing it,” said Cowart. “We’ll make sure that it is put back to as glorious of a monument as it was.”
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