A landmark artwork in Washington, D.C. will be painted over as anti-DEI directives continue to be given in the Trump Administration.

Nearly five years after being painted on the district’s 16th Street NW intersection, the piece reading ‘Black Lives Matter’ will soon be covered, as announced by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Tuesday, March 4.

“The mural inspired millions of people and helped our city through a very painful period, but now we can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference,” Mayor Bowser wrote. “The devastating impacts of the federal job cuts must be our number one concern.”

Mayor Bowser’s statement was made one day following Georgia Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde presented a bill for the intersection to be renamed Liberty Plaza, for the painting to be scrubbed from the street, along with the ‘BLM’ phrase to be removed from government websites and documents.

While it’s unknown if the mural’s area, named Black Lives Matter Plaza, will be renamed, a citywide mural project honoring the nation's 250th birthday will include the space being repainted. President Donald Trump's efforts to end diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives coincide with the street change after it was painted in June 2020, one month after the murder of George Floyd by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd’s death sparked national outrage, spawning widespread demonstrations and protest artwork, such as D.C.’s ‘BLM’ street painting.