Artist: Misunderstanding caused mural ban

PLANT CITY, Fla., Oct. 14 (UPI) -- A Florida artist said a city's ban on new downtown murals was triggered by a painting of an armrest that was mistaken for a male sex organ.

Blake Emory, who helped create a mural on the exterior wall of Hannas Antiques in downtown Plant City, said commissioners rushed to ban creation of any more murals in the historic downtown district because officials mistook an armrest protruding from between a man's legs in the picture for a sex organ, the Tampa (Fla.) Tribune reported Wednesday.

City commissioners approved the ban by a 4-1 vote Monday.

"We went through the proper channels and did everything we were supposed to do," Emory said of the mural's creation. "The offending area in the mural was part of an armchair, nothing more. But when it was pointed out to me, I had it painted over immediately."

Hannas Antiques owner Edward Haynes said Tuesday he was irked by the controversy.

"If the city was so interested in the moral character of the city, why don't they do something about the prostitutes soliciting on the city streets or the bums sleeping in vacant lots at night? I'm all for decency," he said. "I have a family too. But let's not get so upset and misplace our energy when it is needed elsewhere."