CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- "Badge of Honor" is the bronze sculpture — honoring the Chicago Blackhawks on their 75th anniversary — that has sat across Madison Street from the United Center for 20 years.
This week, it's covered, after being vandalized over the weekend.
A video on social media shows red paint on the head of the Blackhawk Indian that sits on top of the massive sculpture. There was paint, too, down at least one side of the monument to past Blackhawks players.
"I just think it's a shame that's this is how people express themselves," the artist who created the bronze and granite work, Erik Blome, said Monday.
He viewed the damage in a social-media video.
"I myself have grievances in my life. I have grievances about things that are out there — public artworks even. But I think that you need to go through the regular channels in order to express yourself and make change in the world," Blome said.
A Blackhawks spokesman says the sculpture "is currently under tarp for protection and will be sent off to be repaired in the near future."
