The mysterious artist of the Surfing Madonna has stepped forward to help the California beach city of Encinitas remove his illegal mosaic from public property.
Encinitas Assistant City Manager Richard Phillips said Thursday the city attorney is in talks with the attorney for Mark Patterson about the penalty for putting up the unauthorized piece that the city says is graffiti under the law. The mosaic shows the Virgin of Guadalupe surfing a wave.
In a letter to the city, Patterson's attorney says the artwork bolted into a support structure under a train bridge can be removed without damaging it.
The letter states that Patterson put up the piece to send a message about saving the ocean.
Deputy Mayor Jerome Stocks says he worries whether the bolts affected the support, which was retrofitted for earthquakes.
