Authorities have blacked out graffiti assumed to paint President Joko Widodo, or popularly known as Jokowi. The police are on the hunt for the artist behind the graffiti, found on a wall under the airport train railway bridge in Batuceper, Tangerang, Banten. 

The mural depicted a figure interpreted as the president with a red bar covering his eyes and the text “404: Not Found” written on it. The mural has been blacked out with paint by 13 August, said Tangerang City Police Head of Public Relations Abdul Rochim.

He stated that there is an ongoing investigation into this case as well as to find the ‘culprit’. “For us, he (the president) is the supreme commander of the National Armed Forces and the National Police,” he explained the reason for painting over the mural and the police investigation.

At first, the state apparatus only painted over the part that depicted the president and left other elements untouched. However,  they ended up covering the whole mural with black paint.

This is not the first mural paint-over by the authorities. Viral graffiti “Tuhan Aku Lapar!” (God I’m Hungry!) in Tangerang was painted over in July and the police visited the artist behind it to give him food and daily necessities.

A mural in Pasuruan, East Java was also covered by the Public Order Agency. The mural, depicting two creatures accompanied with the text “Dipaksa sehat di negara yang sakit” (Forced to be healthy in a sick country), was deemed provocative.