Michigan State statue vandalized, painted in Michigan colors (Photo)
It appears that some Michigan fans left their mark on Michigan State’s campus in East Lansing late Wednesday night.
According to CBS Detroit, a photo was posted to a 247 Sports message board by an MSU ROTC student Thursday morning showing the Spartan statue painted in Michigan’s maize and blue colors.
Michigan State's Spartan statue vandalized this morning by Wolverines: (via @247Sports) pic.twitter.com/DMIJWy8wnB
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) April 16, 2015
Michigan State spokesman Jason Cody confirmed that the photo is real and told Mlive.com that the university grounds crew “noticed it about 5 a.m.” and had the paint cleaned up “by daybreak.”
Another ROTC student, junior Jacob Rexroat, told CBS Detroit that he was on his way to training Thursday morning when he noticed the paint.
Army ROTC cadet and MSU junior Jacob Rexroat was on his way to 5 a.m. physical training for Army ROTC when he noticed the statue looked different. Rexroat saw the grounds crew packing up their gear after spiffing up Sparty about an hour later. Rexrote said a fellow cadet, Josh Starkey, took the picture that has been reposted to Twitter several times.
Michigan State University police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor told Mlive.com that a formal police report regarding the incident hasn’t been filed.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an incident like this. Before Michigan’s trip to East Lansing in October, the block M on Michigan’s campus was painted green with the letters “S” and “U.”
The block ‘M’ on Michigan’s campus has been painted green. pic.twitter.com/lGFvnXeVbv
— Alejandro Zúñiga (@ByAZuniga) October 22, 2014
Before that, the Sparty statue saw a similar fate with Michigan’s block M logo painted on its midsection in April 2013.
Hahahaha look what happened to sparty #HAIL #GOBLUE #VICTORS pic.twitter.com/EXbXQcMcIv
— Jon Haggerty (@Dagger_Haddy) April 20, 2013
You can bet that we’ll see a response from Michigan State fans at some point.
On the football field, the Wolverines are scheduled to host the Spartans at Michigan Stadium on Oct. 17. The Spartans have won six of the last seven matchups in the series, including a 35-11 beatdown last season, but new coach Jim Harbaugh has given Michigan a spark. It should be a hostile environment.
For more Michigan news, visit TheWolverine.com.
For more Michigan State news, visit SpartanMag.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
