The Mario Lemieux statue was erected in 2012. Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Mario Lemieux statue in Pittsburgh defaced during protests

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 5/30/20

Numerous protests have broken out around the country. Some of have been peaceful, while others have turned chaotic, with looting and defacing taking place.

In Pittsburgh, some chaos took place, which resulted in the Mario Lemieux statue outside of PPG Paints Arena being defaced with graffiti.

The view outside of PPG Paints Arena @WPXI pic.twitter.com/DwGq1ZnmJd

— Amy Hudak (@amy_hudak) May 30, 2020

Pittsburgh police said the protests began peacefully and later became disruptive. A curfew was later issued throughout the city.

ALERT: City has declared a curfew, effective at 8:30 p.m tonight until 6 a.m. Curfew will also be in place tomorrow/Sunday night. https://t.co/r1Uwc4FFmH

— Pgh Public Safety (@PghPublicSafety) May 30, 2020

The defacing of the Lemieux statue comes less than a day after parts of the College Football Hall of Fame were vandalized on Friday night in Atlanta.

Lemieux, 54, was the No. 1 overall pick by the Penguins in 1984. He won two Stanley Cups as a player, the Hart Trophy three times, the Art Ross Trophy six times, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997. He is a Hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor. The statue of him went up in 2012.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: