By: Julie Watson, Associated Press
SAN DIEGO (AP).- The mysterious artist of the Surfing Madonna has stepped forward to help the California beach city of Encinitas remove his illegal mosaic from public property. Encinitas Assistant City Manager Richard Phillips said Thursday the city attorney was in talks with the attorney for Mark Patterson about the penalty for putting up the unauthorized piece that the city says is graffiti under the law. The colorful mosaic depicts the Virgin of Guadalupe surfing a wave and the words “Save the Ocean.” It was put up shortly before Easter and has drawn a following with scores coming to see it in Encinitas, a picturesque coastal community 25 miles north of San Diego. City officials say the artwork is graffiti under the law and must go. They hired an art conservation agency to find a way to