The 50-foot mural was painted over after a neighbor called police to complain about graffiti vandals putting their tags on it, The Seattle Times reported Tuesday.

Rick Sheridan, a spokesman for the city Department of Transportation, said the mural was created by a now-defunct art program for children in the 1990s. The city is looking for a group to take responsibility for the mural.

"We've all learned from this," said Jim Bennett, the zoo's community-relations manager. "The city's learned, we've learned and the neighbors have learned; and it's brought us together to hopefully get it

fixed, and hopefully this won't happen again."