Vandals spray-paint Andy Griffith statue

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CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Police in Mount Airy, N.C., said no arrests had been made as of Wednesday in the vandalism of a statue of actor Andy Griffith.

The sculpture was installed by the cable television network TV Land and stands in front of the Surry County Arts Council office. It was spray-painted some time late Sunday, the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported.

The rendering of the famous TV character Sheriff Andy Taylor's hair was painted green and part of the face tinted red, the newspaper said.

"I was extremely disappointed that somebody would do that to something that's so important to our community," Tanya Jones, executive director of the Surry Arts Council, told WGHP-TV, High Point, N.C.

Griffith was born in Mount Airy in 1926. He played Sheriff Taylor on "The Andy Griffith Show" from 1960 to 1968. The comedy airs in reruns on TV Land.