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Fort Myers student's chalk memorial honoring mass shooting victims removed

Posted at 10:14 PM, Feb 19, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-19 22:17:35-05

A Fort Myers High School senior used chalk art to remember the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, and raise awareness as to how many lives have been taken in mass shootings since she was born.

She said her artwork outside Fort Myers High School lasted less than 24 hours before it was removed.

"I write things down and it helps me to remember and process," 17-year-old Sarah Brown said. " So I wrote, because that's what I do."

Brown took almost nine hours writing down more than 600 names outside the entrance to Fort Myers High School.

"I wrote the names of all of the victims of mass shootings, starting with the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting," Brown said.

She then wrote the names of other victims of mass shootings since 2000, the year she was born. She calls the artwork "Collateral Damage."

"It's one thing to see a statistic, but it's more substantial when you see all of the names," she said.

Less than 24 hours later, Brown said the names were removed. She said she figured it would fade away, but said when she was nearly done with the project Saturday, the Assistant Principal told her it would be removed.

"Because I didn't have permission from the school and because the school itself has to remain neutral," Brown said the Assistant Principal told her.

But Brown said the artwork isn't political.

"The artwork itself is about awareness, and it's showing people how many people have been affected by this," she said.

When Fox 4 reached out to the Lee County School District, a communications coordinator said:

"Fort Myers High School was the staging area for Saturday Night's Edison parade. Thousands of people were on campus. While cleaning up the trash and debris afterwards every attempt was made to preserve the student's work but it was too damaged by the nights activities."

"I can't sit idly by and know that there are high school students two hours away who barely escaped being slaughtered in school," Brown said.

Brown also created a similar work of art in Centennial Park after the Las Vegas shooting.

She said she's working to expand "Collateral Damage," and has already reached out to students in other states to give it a broader reach.