Two rocks were painted to honor Tara O’Sullivan. Two days later, one was painted over

Just days after two large rocks in El Dorado Hills were painted blue to honor Sacramento Police Officer Tara O’Sullivan, one was painted over with a gay pride flag. June is LGBT pride month.

The two boulders near an archery club along El Dorado Boulevard are frequently painted to commemorate weddings, graduations and other big milestones.

The boulders were painted bright blue Saturday to honor O’Sullivan, who was killed in the line of duty last week. One had a silver badge with the phrase “Sacramento 349 Police” – in reference to O’Sullivan’s badge number. The other had a tree, the word “Tara” and a picture of SpongeBob SquarePants on it.

»» UPDATE: Both painted rocks in El Dorado Hills back to blue again to honor Tara O’Sullivan

By Monday, the SpongeBob rock had been been painted over. It’s unclear what the painter’s intentions were or if their actions were in response to the rocks painted for O’Sullivan. But, some people on social media took offense.

One Twitter user called the action “disgusting.”

“These rocks have an ever evolving display of paint. Often left for weeks,” they wrote. “The day after they were painted in honor of Officer O’Sullivan, they were painted over for Pride. Makes me ashamed.”

Matt Stone, 33, a Fremont police officer, was visiting family in the area and heard about the rocks. He visited the rocks with his family Monday afternoon and said he appreciated the El Dorado Hills community’s supportive response to O’Sullivan’s death.

“This is why we want to move here,” he said, gesturing to his wife and children.

This story was originally published June 24, 2019 at 6:13 PM.