AUSTIN, Texas - The graffiti has been cleared off the wall behind the Littlefield Memorial Fountain, but the water is still a faint purple.
The message, spray-painted in red on the side of the fountain sometime late Wednesday night or Thursday morning, said “This is the blood of survivors that UT ignores.”
Cleanup crews are working to remove the spray paint and said they will have to drain the fountain to get rid of the purple hue.
Police first said the fountain was turned purple due to the spray paint. However, the crew said they believe someone tried to turn the fountain red, but the chlorine in the water reacted with the dye creating the purple color.
Many students are stopping by the fountain on their way to class to snap a picture and do a little speculating on the meaning behind the vandalism.
"I think it has something to do with the current student body election," said UT senior Jason Carr.
Carr said results aren't out yet, and that there is already controversy surrounding the predicted victors.
But there are other ideas, like the fact that the vandalism occurred on International Women’s Day.
Shelby Bryan said she's seen the exact same phrase: "This is the blood of survivors that UT ignores" on another wall in recent months.
"It was outside the pharmacy building in reaction to a professor that works there after he was hired back upon allegations of abuse to his girlfriend," said Bryan.
Many students speculating by the Littlefield Memorial Fountain believe the message was related to that incident and a way to protest to the fact that this professor is still teaching even after he plead guilty to abuse.
While some may disagree on the meaning behind the content, most students who spoke with Spectrum news say it was the delivery that was all wrong.
"There's other ways of protesting or getting your message out there," said sophomore Nikki Rodriguez.
"If you disagree with the way policies are being handled on campus, tagging the campus is definitely not a good way to get your message out,” agreed Carr.
The Austin chapter of an organization called the Revolutionary Student Front posted pictures of the graffiti and the colored water to their Facebook page, but it's not confirmed yet that this organization is responsible for this vandalism.
We have reached out to UT Police and the university itself, with no comment as of yet.