Scoop: Philly apologizes for 100 Steps paint job that drew backlash

Driving the news: A worker from the city's Community Life Improvement Program resorted to painting over graffiti tags on the stairwell because a power washer hose "could not reach" them, city spokesperson Keisha McCarty tells Axios.

• The city's cleanup crew is returning to the steps today with additional equipment to "have it properly removed," McCarty says, a day after Axios asked about the repainting.

What they're saying: "We apologize for the incident and will work to remediate it as quickly as possible," she says.

Context: The gray paint job quickly went viral on social media, with commenters calling it "hideous" and a "travesty."

• Someone hung a sign on the steps in protest that read:
• "This wall is historic & beautiful. Well over a century old. Made with local stone found nowhere else on Earth. Stones that glimmer like silver. And in 1 night you decided to smother it with a flat gray paint. Without consulting anyone."