Photos of Syrian refugees defaced at Pittsburgh art festival

PITTSBURGH – Pictures of young refuges from the war-torn countries of Syria and Iraq have been defaced by spray paint at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Arts Festival, though organizers believe the vandalism was random and not politically motivated.

Photographer Maranie Staab, of Pittsburgh, is in Iraq photographing the ongoing crisis there in Mosul. But she posted a picture of the defaced images, and a message for the vandal or vandals on Facebook: “If the person that did this happens to see this, I would welcome the opportunity to speak to you about these kids.”

The two defaced pictures showed refugee children. The vandals X-ed out their faces with spray paint.

The defaced photos were taken down Wednesday and have been replaced.