Vandals Turn UT-Austin Fountain Water Purple In Cryptic Protest

AUSTIN, TX — This is not purple rain, nor would the artist formerly known as Prince likely approve.

The Littlefield Memorial Fountain at the University of Texas at Austin was turned purple overnight with a message attached from the dye-toting vandals. "This is the blood of survivors that UT ignores," the cryptic note read. It was left either sometime late Wednesday or early Thursday.

It's unclear to what the message referred. Cleanup crews are now working to remove the spray paint graffiti left on the fountain's base, and will need to drain the painted water in the repository. University officials suspect the vandals meant to turn the water red given the bloody allusion, but it turned out purple instead.

The student-run newspaper Daily Texan posted a photo of the vandalism on their social media pages:

>>> Image via Shutterstock