Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the House minority leader, appealed but could not overturn a decision by the Architect of the Capitol to take down a high school student’s painting that depicted police officers as warthogs.
The Architect decided to take down the painting last month after police unions and Republican congressmen protested the art work, which was hung in an underground tunnel linking the Capitol and office buildings used by the House.
Pelosi called for a meeting of the House Office Building Commission to appeal the decision not long after the painting was removed but the Republicans on the panel denied her Friday, according to The Hill.
The acrylic painting, “Untitled #1,” is by David Pulphus, who was a high school student in St. Louis, Missouri during the 2014 riots in nearby Ferguson, which occurred after the controversial fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown by a local police officer. The work depicts law enforcement as boars, who are pointing guns at unarmed citizens that are protesting, some being animals themselves.