A man splashed red paint over the Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower, and workers cleaned it up within hours

• A man was captured on video splashing red paint over the Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower on New York City's Fifth Avenue.
• The man is seen on video wearing dark clothing and a face mask, and running away after dumping the paint.
• On Monday evening, Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that the Department of Transportation had "already fixed" the mural.
• President Donald Trump previously called the mural, which was painted last week, a "symbol of hate".

A man was captured on video splashing red paint over the Black Lives Matter mural on New York City's Fifth Avenue on Monday.

The unidentified man was captured pouring paint over the letter "V" in "Lives." Passing cars then spread the paint to other letters on the mural after the suspect, who has yet to be identified, ran away.

Department of Transportation workers fixed the mural later that day. Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted, "The #BlackLivesMatter movement is more than words, and it can't be undone."

Oscar Vela caught the man on video. "I was a little speechless at first 'cause I couldn't believe that was happening in front of me," Vela told CNN.

—Oscar Vela (@OscarVelaNYC) July 13, 2020

A witness is heard on video saying, "What's your name? Run, b------, run!"

The New York City Police department said it received a call around noon about criminal mischief on Fifth Avenue, according to NBC. No one's been arrested and the investigation is ongoing.

—Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) July 13, 2020

President Donald Trump previously called the mural a "symbol of hate" that is "denigrating this luxury Avenue." The defacement comes after a couple in San Francisco vandalized another Black Lives Matter mural last week. They called racism and police brutality "a leftist lie," Insider reported.

During the New York mural unveiling last week, de Blasio told the crowd: "When we say 'Black Lives Matter,' there is no more American statement. There's no more patriotic statement, because there is no America without black America."

Expanded Coverage Module: black-lives-matter-module