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Complaints prompt Polis promise to clean state Capitol

DENVER (AP) — The state Capitol will be cleaned and washed “as quickly as possible," a spokesperson for Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said, after a Republican lawmaker and others complained bitterly that graffiti and other damage inflicted weeks ago during protests over police misconduct had not been addressed.

“It’s not only a disgrace, but it’s embarrassing," state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg told KCNC-TV. "Nobody is being held accountable, and that you and I as taxpayers have to foot the bill.”

The building's granite walls are covered in graffiti, windows and lights are shattered, and monuments and memorials are defaced or destroyed.

A spokesperson for Polis’ office said the governor is “outraged” and “frustrated” and “has directed that our Capitol is cleaned and washed as quickly as possible, and the building further fortified.”

Ronald Craft, a native of Denver, told the station there’s no excuse for the damage or the delay in cleaning it up. “It could been done a long time ago,” he said.

"I’m with the George Floyd thing all the way, but this is not what they are about. Governor, I’ll come down and help.”

Colorado State Patrol says it has troopers on duty around-the-clock outside the building, but it won’t risk them or others being injured for property crimes. Denver police say there has been one arrest.