A mural of Whitehorse’s beloved “Skateboard Grandma” was defaced this week.

Ninety-nine-year-old Amanda Rendell has volunteered at the Riverdale skateboard park for nearly 20 years, and has become a well-loved figure there.

She was so well-loved, in fact, that an artist painted a mural depicting her in one of the skate bowls, complete with the shoelace-key necklace she wears around her neck.

Earlier this week, the painting was destroyed by splatters of yellow paint. The paint had been left there by another muralist.

Rendell’s daughter, Pam Charman, told the Star she was disgusted by the vandalism.

“They should be ashamed of themselves,” Charman said. “Why would you go and deface something that other people respect?”

Charman said she’s heard that young teenagers were seen vandalizing the park in broad daylight.

The fact that they defaced the mural proves they weren’t regulars of the scene who knew Skateboard Grandma, she believes.

“Everyone who has anything to do with that skate park takes care of her,” Charman said. “They don’t want her bullied.”

Andrew Obiienjackson, 11, and Evan Laferniere Clark, 12, said Wednesday they come to the skate park with their scooters every day and appreciate Rendell’s presence there.

“She’s awesome,” Laferniere Clark told the Star. “She used to come here every day.”

“She comes to check on the skaters,” Obiienjackson added. “She’s nice.”

The pair said they often see Rendell at the park clearing garbage and organizing cans of grease used on the pipes.

Laferniere Clark said he noticed somebody had vandalized the mural of Rendell in one of the skate bowls when he arrived to practise on Wednesday afternoon.

“There’s paint everywhere,” he said. “People do dumb things to try and act cool, because they think it’s funny.”

Obiienjackson said graffiti is common in the park, but didn’t appreciate the defacing of the mural.

“I don’t feel good about it; she’s a sweet lady,” he said of Skateboard Grandma.

This weekend, Rendell will be celebrating her 100th birthday. Her daughter said it’s a shame the mural was defaced during the very week intended to celebrate her.

“Its not like she’s going to be around forever, she’s 100 now,” Charman said.

“To have that done days before her hundredth birthday was a really nasty turn of events.”