Tupelo Says Somebody Stole 'Elvis'

Lettering spelling out iconic singer's name stolen off sign at entrance to his Miss. birthplace museum
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 2, 2021 8:07 AM CDT
Tupelo Says Somebody Stole 'Elvis'
This 1972 file photo shows Elvis Presley.   (AP Photo/File)

"Elvis" has left the street sign. The Elvis Presley Birthplace, a historic museum site commemorating the King of Rock and Roll in Tupelo, Miss., made a troublesome find over Memorial Day weekend: Someone ripped the lettering for the first word of the "Elvis Presley" signature off the brick wall at the entrance to the venue, leaving just the "Presley" and the words "birthplace museum & chapel." "Over the years, we've had small amounts of vandalism, but nothing of this manner," Dick Guyton, executive director of the site, tells the Daily Journal, which notes that a $1,000 reward is being offered to anyone with information on the word-swiping. "We just want to try to stop any future vandalism as fast as we can."

WTVA notes it's not clear on exactly which day over the holiday weekend the sign was vandalized, just a week before the annual Tupelo Elvis Festival. What is clear is that the site has become somewhat of a target: Three months ago, someone took all of the lettering off the sign, which cost $3,200 to replace. The historical site also had a close call in early May, when a tornado swept through the area and narrowly avoided causing major damage to the place, per the AP. Unfortunately, the site's location on Elvis Presley Drive doesn't have any surveillance cameras, so Guyton is crossing his fingers that the public will come through. "We hope that somebody will come forward and let us know who's doing this stuff so we can get some restitution from them," he says, per the Journal. (More Elvis Presley stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X