PORTLAND, Ore --- Pink Martini has finally recovered their stolen van but it’s a bittersweet ending. Crooks painted over the van’s priceless artwork.
Someone stole the van Sunday from a downtown Portland parking garage. As soon as this happened, Pink Martini put out an alert on Facebook. It was shared hundreds of times and people spotted the van in different parts of the Portland-metro area.
On Wednesday morning, band members received a call. The van was found at Southeast 84th and Ellis and taken to an impound lot. But the news was bittersweet when they learned that someone spray-painted over the van’s iconic artwork.
Renowned artist Kenny Scharf, a friend of Andy Warhol, painted the van for Thomas Lauderdale. The band was holding onto hope that the crooks would not paint over the artwork, but to their dismay, that artwork is gone.
“I’m not quite sure where to go from next, because a white van is just a white van, but a white van, with Kenny Scharf art, is totally different. It’s so sad, you know, the thieves didn't know they had a million dollar van,” said Thomas Lauderdale.
The band has no idea who did this, but they are happy the van has been recovered.
Pink Martini kicks off a big tour the end of this week.
