Garden, art gallery meant to unite East Point community robbed two nights in a row

EAST POINT, Ga. - A space meant to bring the community together is now out hundreds of dollars after someone robbed them two nights in a row.

It happened in the garden area of the Black Art in America Gallery in East Point.

"We came yesterday, and we noticed we had a couple of flowers missing from the outside of the gate, I think rose bushes," Faron Manual, Director of the Black Art in America Foundation, said.

"And then last night, things were missing when we arrived in the morning. We have video of someone going through taking solar lights, taking plants, taking other things that we may not know are missing right now," he added.

The news is especially tough for volunteers like Glenda Singletary who works to maintain the garden area.

"Just like somebody coming to your house and just invading your privacy that's what it felt like," Singletary said.

The staff at Black Art in America Gallery in East Point say the business was robbed two nights in a row.

"I passed the fence here, and I'm like, ‘Oh our babies, we call our plants and flowers our babies because they just take off when we plant them, and they just come alive,’" she added.

The space has been around for two-and-a-half years transformed into an art gallery where people can learn about and buy pieces from black artists. The staff hopes the person who stole from them will be found before their able to strike again.

"Just thinking about the impact that we make here in the community, how many people you know just driving by to see the space in the evening even when we're closed to get some inspiration. To think that someone would come in here and just take from us when we've given to the community is really a shame," Manuel explained.