After a long-standing U.S. flag mural was vandalized with anti-Trump graffiti earlier this week, two Phoenix police officers, as well as an officer’s son, headed out to the scene and painted over the graffiti.

Officer Mario Lozoya and Sgt. Matt Morgan, along with Lozoya’s son, painted over the graffiti on Thursday afternoon, neighborhood resident Marcy Bobbitt said.

“I was touched that they would be standing out there in 105-degree weather painting this flag,” she said.

The mural is located on Cactus Road just west of 40th Street, and has been there for nearly 18 years. It was painted the day after the 9/11 attacks.

Former homeowner Laura Giacoppo painted the flag onto the wall — alongside her son Brian and friend Patti — on Sept. 12, 2001. 

“It was just a thing that we did to honor all the people who died,” she said.

Mimi Hanna, the current owner of the house that has the flag painted on the other side of her yard’s wall, said she felt “violated” when she heard the news that the mural had been defaced with the words “F— Trump!!! F— ICE!!,” directed at President Donald Trump and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“It’s really sad for me. It’s the state of our union right now and it’s extremely upsetting,” Hanna said.

Marcy Bobbitt, a resident of the neighborhood who saw the mural being repainted by police Thursday, called the graffiti “very despicable” and referred to the act as a “hate crime.”

“It was a terrible thing to deface the American flag like that. Doesn’t matter what your political beliefs are. The flag is what it is,” Bobbitt said.

Bobbitt said that when she saw the graffiti on the wall, her reaction was “sorrow mixed with outrage that somebody would do that.”

“The flag is much more than a painting or a piece of cloth. it’s a symbol for what the United States of America stands for,” Bobbitt said.

Hanna said she was “elated” when she heard that the officers, as well as the young boy, headed out to repaint the wall.

“I respect them so much. I respect law and order, and I was very touched,” she said.

Hanna said she especially appreciated the officer’s son helping with repainting the mural.

“I think what I’m most pleased with is that young man. He showed such a great sense of citizenship and integrity to do that with his dad,” Hanna said.

Lozoya and Morgan were not immediately available for comment. However, Bobbitt called the two officers “caring” and “upstanding.”

“We are indebted to those two young men. They are just wonderful young men. I was impressed by both of them – their moral character and just their caring nature,” Bobbitt said.

“Seeing those officers doing that in this weather should go far to show people where the hearts of these young men are,” she added.

Bobbitt said she hopes that people will “see the police in a different light” after the officers’ act of service and not just for recent controversies that have drawn public attention.

“I hope it goes a long ways towards healing those feelings that are going on around the country right now politically and toward our police overall,” she said.

Reach the reporter at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @clairerafford.

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