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Austin artist restoring 'Vote!' mural after vandalism

The mural was defaced with red paint just two weeks after its completion. A few weeks after that, the artist rushed to touch it up and repair it before Election Day.

AUSTIN, Texas — Artists take time to make things we can appreciate. But one Austin artist has had to create his artwork twice.

Lucas Aoki has painted a lot of things.

"I've been painting murals for the last, like, 10 years or so," he said.

It took him hours to create the "Vote!" mural off of Guadalupe Street in Downtown Austin.

"The first time, it was about – start to finish was around 10 days," Aoki said.

That was the first time.

"It got erased in, like, two seconds," he said.

Two weeks after finishing the mural encouraging people to vote, someone tossed red paint on it.

"In the middle of the night, someone came by with some red paint and just splattered it on the building," said Holli Ahiers, the property manager at the apartment building the mural is painted on. "I was worried we were just going to paint it back to a generic white wall, so I'm glad to see we're repairing it."

They wanted to repair the mural before Election Day on Nov. 3, which is why Aoki was out painting again all day on Oct. 29, starting the process that will take more than 35 hours over several days.

"I wasn't expecting this to happen, but we're living through weird times so I wasn't super surprised," he said.

The voter registration division for Travis County paid for the mural, which is being appreciated by those walking by even as Aoki fixes it.  

"There's the [UT] tower and downtown views and Lady Bird Lake, so there's a lot of cool things in there as well," Ahiers said.

But Aoki said the message goes beyond the mural's Austin theme.

"It was something meaningful, that's what I liked about it," he said. 

"Hopefully, it will be up there for many years to come after this. That's the plan," Ahiers said.

This time around, Aoki said he's adding a clear coat that will make the mural easier to clean up if anyone defaces it again.

WATCH: Voting in Texas: Polling location security and safety after the polls close

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