Graffiti Removed From New Minnesota Vikings Stadium

There was nearly a serious debasement of the new Minnesota Vikings stadium recently, but it appears as though it has been stopped.

Over the weekend, the New York Times reported that Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker, on a tour of a Wisconsin plant that is making the steel beams for the new stadium, thought it would be cute to scrawl "Go Packers" on one of the beams.

Well, apparently that didn't last as long as Walker would have liked.

"Governor Walker did sign a piece of steel that was in a fabrication shop in Wisconsin, but his signature and whatever else he wrote has been removed from that piece of steel," said John Wood, senior vice president for Mortenson Construction.

. . .

"I understand it was merely erased," Wood said, noting that it could easily be removed with a power grinder, a tool often used in steel fabrication.

Signatures on construction projects aren't unusual. So-called "topping out" ceremonies often include commemorative notes. Target Field has one, Wood said.

"All of the workers that were on the job site and people that were invited to the event were invited to put a message or put their names on the last piece of steel that was erected on the project. That sort of thing is sort of normal - but we certainly don't condone anyone doing it without any permission to do so."

So, it doesn't appear that any pro-Green Bay propaganda will be a part of the new Minnesota Vikings' stadium, which is set to open in 2016. And thank goodness for that.