“Virginia is for lovers. No KKK.”
The owner of the shed on 19th Road N. had no intention of being at the center of a civil rights message, but the back of his property expresses a message of tolerance to anyone riding the Metro through the East Falls Church station or taking the Washington and Old Dominion Trail.
The sign says Virginia is for Lovers — a slogan for the state — with “KKK” surrounded by a big red “no” sign.
The sign has been noted a number of times on Twitter since 2018, with tweets mainly expressing support for the message. But the owner of the shed said he didn’t put the sign up and has no idea who did or when.
“The first I heard about it was when one of my neighbors said ‘have you seen the back of your shed?'” said the man, who was wearing a National Rife Association t-shirt when a reporter stopped by to ask about the message on Monday.
One of my favorite sights on the way home from Dulles: the building near the East Falls Church Metro on which somebody spraypainted "Virginia Is For Lovers," followed by a crossed-out "KKK." pic.twitter.com/OPwUj873gl
— Rob Pegoraro (@robpegoraro) November 9, 2018
The view on my drive to work is, shall we say, pretty uninspired except today I saw ‘Virginia is for lovers – No KKK’ graffiti’d beautifully in huge letters on the side of a random suburban garage, so that ruled
— Laura (@llauracm_) October 17, 2018
The back wall of the shed is accessible from the trail but difficult to reach from the ground.
“I’ll say this, whoever put it up was talented,” the man said. “It’s up in the air, so they needed a ladder to get up there. And the spacing between the letters… it’s nicely done.”
But while the man (who did not want to give his name) was not opposed to the message, he was a little concerned about courting controversy or retaliation — particularly with white nationalist activity cropping up throughout the area. He said he was worried someone could come along and burn the building down.
Those who want to see the artwork should come sooner rather than later though, as the owner said he plans to place vinyl siding around the shed a some point in the near future, thus covering up the message in the process.