Report: Bruin Legend's Mural Vandalized in Miami

The Associated Press reported Thursday afternoon that a mural of UCLA Bruin legend Jackie Robinson and fellow Negro Leagues icon Minnie Miñoso was defaced in Miami.

The artwork that honors several Negro League baseball players in Miami's Overtown neighborhood was vandalized with racist graffiti, which included Nazi symbols, and was discovered Sunday by a 7-year-old boy who asked his mother what the symbols meant, according to community leaders.

Terrance Cribbs-Lorrant, executive director with the city of Miami Black Police Precinct, spoke on the murals that have since been covered up with wooden boards.

"I know you may not be able to show it on television, but we need the community to uncover the hurt and the hatred that is existing," Cribbs-Lorrant said. "The reason why this keeps being perpetuated is because we keep covering it up."

The art is on the fences at Dorsey Park, a historic park where Negro League teams used to play baseball. They've been up since 2011 and were made in collaboration by Kyle Holbrook and Kadir Nelson.

Police are currently investigation the vandalism and are yet to make any arrests, according to AP.

Jackie Robinson famously broke the MLB's color barrier in 1947 when he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers and became the first Black player in league history.

Before that, though, he was a four-sport star at UCLA and enrolled in 1939. Along with baseball, Robinson played football, basketball and ran track and field. UCLA's baseball stadium is named after him and will host the Bruins' first college baseball postseason Super Regionals appearance since 2019 this weekend.

After breaking ground for Negro League players in the major league's and enjoying a 10-year career where he won a Rookie of the Year, National League MVP and World Series title, Robinson was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 and died in 1972 at 53 years old.

Every MLB team retired his jersey number (42) and celebrate his legacy annually on April 15, better known as "Jackie Robinson Day."

Robinson opened the door for players like Miñoso, who became the MLB's first Afro-Latino player in league history and the Chicago White Sox's first Black player.