Pranksters paint in graduation season

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

The cow standing guard over Cities Barbeque has donned a new look.
Under the cover of darkness a few nights ago, a crew of stealthy, paintbrush-wielding pranksters stole onto the rooftop to baste the beast in a bath of verdant olive.
“The kids do it every year,” owner Pedro Quito said, thumbing up the street toward Santa Barbara High School.

Many of his lunchtime customers are Dons who make the short walk up Canon Perdido Street to Milpas Street.
So when graduation rolls around and the sculpture takes on a greenish tinge, Quito is happy to let it go, as long as the rest of his building escapes harm.
Shades of the heifer’s former self still linger, however — a mishmash of pink and purple stripes matched with a toothy grin that shifted its ilk from bovine to a familiar Alice in Wonderland feline.
That’s probably due to Quito’s neighbor, who spotted the early morning artists and cut their campaign short with a bit of a yell.
Quito has no plans to cover up the mischievous markings. Someone usually comes along and offers to give it a fresh coat free of charge.
But for now, with graduation less than a week away, the cow stands as a monument to another succession of Dons.