PORTLAND, Maine — One person has been charged with arson after an art display in Portland's Congress Square Park was set on fire over the weekend
According to a release Monday from Portland police spokesperson David Singer, officers were called to the park around 6 p.m. Sunday.
Trea Sean Deam-Monet, 22, was arrested and charged. Deam-Monet is a transient of Portland, according to Singer.
Firefighters from the Portland Fire Department responded and put out the fire. Singer said nobody was injured.
Jordan Carey and his mother Denise created the piece called "New Rhythms" intended to depict "The Gombey," a protector and ally, sharing "the perspective of both an immigrant and native" in a "tumultuous political climate."
Carey took to Facebook Sunday to share his perspective on the incident.
"I called my mother after finding out that the New Rhythms piece in Congress Sq. Park had just been set on fire," Carey wrote. "The first thing she said was 'this is the conversation, this is why you chose to do this piece, and this I why Gombey hid for so long and masqueraded in private. This is why you choose to do work surrounding marginalized people'"
Carey told NEWS CENTER Maine he has no plans to recreate or restore the piece since the fire.
"I can't bear despite how ugly it is to put them away, replace them," he told NEWS CENTER Maine. "This is part of their fabric, this is part of our fabric."