Man Arrested For Defacing Stevie Ray Vaughan Statue In Austin

AUSTIN, TX — You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind, you don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger and you absolutely do not deface with graffiti a statue of beloved musician Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Police on Friday charged a man accused of having vandalized the statue of the late, iconic blues legend that stands on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake. The statue was first spray-painted with graffiti on Monday —the day after the Philadelphia beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl — when witnesses said they saw a man defacing the monument before outfitting it in an Eagles jersey, police said.

Witnesses were able to jot down the license plate number from the man's vehicle and called 911 — as good a reason to call the emergency line given Vaughn's god-like status in these parts that served as the late Dallas-born musician's stomping grounds.

With the plate number, police were able to track the man to his home. The suspect was identified as Matthew Rutledge, 39, who was charged with a Class B misdemeanor.

Rutledge allegedly scrawled "Philly loves St. Nick" on the surface of the statue, likely an allusion to Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, a graduate of Westlake High School in Austin. By sheer coincidence (or is it?), the man's arrest comes on the day that Austin Mayor Steve Adler proclaimed Friday as "Nick Foles Day."

This isn't the first time the statue has been defaced. Another tagger vandalized the monument earlier this year after passersby discovered the spray paint on the statue's simulated poncho — a sartorial signature of the late musician — on Jan. 30.

Vaughan will have been dead for 28 years come August, but his presence and influence loom large — both tangibly with the impressive statue in his honor at one of Austin's most prominent spaces and for the musical influence he engendered with his singular, inimitable style of blues.

Aug. 27, 1990, was a sad day in Texas (and beyond) when Vaughan and four others traveling by helicopter from Wisconsin to Chicago were killed when the aircraft crashed. Vaughan was just 35 years old. Despite the passage of time, his legend continues to grow alongside enduring reserves of affection for the late musician.

So while Rutledge was hit with a mere misdemeanor charge for his graffiti defacement, to fans of Stevie Ray Vaughan — which are legion — his transgression was nothing short of a sacrilege. For in these here parts, Vaughan is still our pride and joy.

At last check, Rutledge at the Travis County Jail with a bail set at $2,000.

>>> Matthew Rutledge booking photo and graphic evidence of his defacement via Austin Police Department