DELANO, Calif. (KERO) — The Tomasa Zapata Co-op Service Station, one of the most historic buildings at Forty Acres, was found defaced with by staff on Monday morning.
- Staff part of Forty Acres in Delano came into work Monday morning and found one of their buildings with graffiti on it.
- Officials with the National Chavez Association saying although Forty Acres has been vandalized in the past, it's never gone to this extent.
- Officials say they are not interested in taking any legal action, but rather, they hope for the individuals involved to come forward so that they can educate them on the history the site holds.
An act of vandalism has taken place at a landmark part of California's labor rights movement. Staff at the historic Forty Acres site in Delano arrived Monday to find one of its most iconic buildings defaced with graffiti.
"You know this is a place where giants walked and so to see that people in our own backyards don't have as much consideration for their own history is a little disheartening,” said Executive Director of the National Chavez Center Andres Chavez.
Chavez says the 40 Acres Site off Garces Highway in Delano has been vandalized a few times in the past.
"In the 1970's during a brutal strike it was dynamited in that corner over there, the ATF went on to investigate it,” said Chavez.
Since then, however, he says it's never gone to this extent.
"The building that was spray painted was the Tomasa Zapata gas station,” said Zapata. “We used to sell cheap gas, there's also mechanic bays that allowed farm workers to come and get their cars fixed or they could loan tools for themselves and fix their own cars."
Doing a walkthrough of the site, Chavez says it was also the first structure built and where Cesar Chavez fasted for 25 days back in 1968, in support of labor rights for farmworkers though nonviolent means.
The fast drew the support of, Robert F. Kennedy, who came to the same vandalized site to show his support to Cesar Chavez who is also the co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union.
His grandson, Andres Chavez says although it's hard to see something like this take place, they are hoping to connect with those responsible.
"We don't want to criminalize the people who did this,” said Chavez. “If anything, we want them to come visit us, confess what they've done and then we're gonna use it as an opportunity to educate them on the history of this property."
Officials say the plan is to restore the building to its original condition by the end of the week so they can continue their tours and educate the public on their history.
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