CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It was a shocking discovery when a local artist got a call Monday morning that the ofrenda she helped design at The Ritz Theatre was defaced and broken into.
"I was very upset, all four of us are very upset," said Marie Frobish, one of the artists who had her pictures stolen from the ofrenda.
She got the news as she was heading back to Corpus Christi from a trip to Louisiana. She said that it still doesn't feel real.
"One of the frames of my dad that was there was probably close to 100 years old," she said.
Ritz Theatre Executive Director Cheryl Votzmeyer-Rios said she had gotten a text from the Downtown Management District that her windows had been smashed in, and her ofredna vandalized.
"They reached in and they flipped over some tables inside and ended up taking some pieces off the alter for the ofrenda," she said.
But this isn't the first time it's happened.
"It happened again in September of 2023," Votzmeyer-Rios said.
She said she noticed a similar instance had happened across the street.
"Some of the pots were turned over at BUS, and they were, so I contacted the owner and told them what was happening," Votzmeyer-Rios said. "Looks like the person who did that was who bashed in the window."
Daniela Campos with the Downtown Management District said their department was in close contact with The Ritz from the moment it happened.
She said that in an area like downtown, vigilant eyes can be vital.
"A lot of the times we can't see everything that happens, so it's good that the community can come together and advocate for each other," Campos said.
After working with the police throughout the day, Votzmeyer-Rios said the moments that led up to the vandalism were far more complicated than she would have thought.
Police showed up to take the woman responsible to the hospital, after claiming that she was allegedly assaulted, and that what she did at The Ritz was out of anger.
"She was mad and angry and lost her mind, so she decided to brake the window and take things," she said.