Ivy designed to prevent graffiti on 101 Freeway vandalized in downtown Los Angeles

So-called "graffiti-proof" ivy that was recently installed along the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles was vandalized over the weekend, just hours after it was put in place by Caltrans crews. 

The artificial ivy was being installed near the Main Street and Los Angeles Street exits on Sunday morning as part of a pilot program aimed at "removing" graffiti from the busy thoroughfare, according to Caltrans officials. They said that the program began two weeks ago and was expected to be finished later this week. 

The graffiti was reported over the weekend and was 90% cleared on Monday, Caltrans reported.

"Due to a mural and related agreements at this location and several walls along U.S. 101 in downtown Los Angeles, Caltrans is not legally allowed to paint over or remove graffiti," said a statement from Caltrans. "As a temporary measure, to protect the mural artworks, Caltrans has been installing artificial ivy which has aesthetic benefits and acts as a graffiti deterrent and is a more environmentally friendly solution to graffiti removal."

They said that other artificial ivy previously installed along the 101 in November last year was "successful in mitigating graffiti." The ivy is installed in 1'x1' squares, which are easily removable and replaced, Caltrans said. The previous installment only required removal three times, which they said was an "improvement for the region."

"In the past year, Caltrans spent $336,160 removing 318,793 square feet of graffiti on US 101 in downtown Los Angeles," said the Caltrans statement. "Across District 7 in the past year, Caltrans spent $4,194,344 removing 3,973,054 square feet of graffiti."

Caltrans officials also noted that the ivy installation was not a part of the Clean California initiative, a $1.1 billion campaign from Gov. Gavin Newsom, which aims to expand trash removal from state highways and fund local beautification projects. 

Before being largely overtaken by graffiti, the walls along the 101 Freeway were previously covered in a series of murals that were commissioned in 1984, the last time the city hosted the Summer Olympics. Los Angeles will host the games for the third time in 2026, and ongoing beautification projects are taking place across the region.