By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
LOWER EAST SIDE — It’s officially open season on street artist Shepard Fairey’s Lower East Side mural.
The entire lower portion of the barely month-old work on East Houston Street and Bowery has been covered with graffiti tags. The opaque grey letters turned up on Fairey's mural some time in the early morning hours on Saturday, according to reports.
The wall, originally made famous by pop artist Keith Haring, has been vandalized multiple times since it went up.
The Department of Buildings recently slapped the wall’s owner with a violation for erecting the sprawling structure without a permit.
The DOB also determined the work to be an advertisement for Fairey’s art show at Deitch Projects, a use not allowed under the area’s zoning designation.
The landlord, Tony Goldman — who allowed Deitch to use the wall for a recreation of Haring’s original work, followed by a piece by the Brazilian street-art duo Os Gêmeos — faces up to $50,000 in fines for violations, a DOB spokesperson said.
