DES MOINES, Iowa — Staff at B&B Grocery, Meat & Deli in Des Moines were greeted with an unpleasant sight Thursday morning: graffiti covering the front of their store.
"It's just disheartening," said owner Joe Brooks.
B&B has been around for 102 years now, after Brooks' grandfather opened it in 1922. It's an old-fashion meat market and deli.
Every morning, Tuesday through Saturday, staff prep the shop. This time, however, Brooks was met with graffiti sprawling across the entrance, adding a whole other list of things to do.
“When I got to work this morning, I noticed the building had been tagged," he said.
To add insult to injury, the store had recently been painted.
“So I called my son-in-law, he’s a painter, and he told me where to go to get the paint," Brooks said.
Thankfully, he was able to fix up the entrance before it came time to open up shop.
“I like to get it covered up fast . . . I didn’t want it to be on the internet in the first place, so I wanted it off there fast just so they don’t get the privilege of saying, ‘Hey that’s my work!’” Brooks said.
Still, pictures of the graffiti spread across social media, prompting many phone calls from locals offering to help paint.
“It’s great to know the community really cares about you," Brooks said.
B&B wasn't the only place impacted by the graffiti.
“I don’t think it’s personal," Brooks said. "It’s just someone tagging because they tagged next door, they tagged the billboard down the street. So it’s just some young kids… punks out running around just being stupid."
He told Local 5 News that, while B&B has dealt with graffiti in the past, it's not a common occurrence. It happens about every five years.