WESTLAKE, Ohio — If you spent time at Taco Bell in the early 2000s, you might remember the street-art-style campaign inside. Three pieces commissioned by artist Mark T. Smith were showcased in almost every Taco Bell across the country until remodeling a few years back.
The artwork is still very much around today, just maybe not in the way you might think. Some believe this story begins at the Taco Bell off Columbia Road in Westlake.
In 2011, the first known attempted theft of Mark T. Smith's art was documented by Westlake Police. Police said the theft attempt was an inside job. A former employee hit the restaurant late at night with some friends, grabbed a piece of art off the wall, and ran. Police said the theft was thwarted in the parking lot.
"There's something kind of punk about it, people stealing the stuff," said Smith, the artist behind the Taco Bell campaign, now based in Jacksonville, Florida.
With the help of reporting done by SF Gate Reporter Ariana Bindman, News 5 talked to Smith about his works called "Moth Man," "Drive Thru Man" and "Empty."
"It was a really interesting campaign that kind of proved its own thesis in that we were serving a population of people that weren't going to galleries and museums but were still interested in experiencing art in some way," said Smith.
In 2011, there was another theft attempt in Westlake. Four years later, in 2015, thieves managed to get out of the Westlake restaurant with art in hand, never to be found again.
"To the untrained eye, they look like a painting...and obviously, because people are stealing them, they have some sort of intrinsic value as well," said Smith.
Meanwhile, pieces were getting snagged off restaurant walls and out of dumpsters behind restaurants across the country.
"People want to be a part of the food, want to look at that art in the stores, or in this case, now in their own homes," said Blake Hundley, founder of "Living Mas."
Hundley runs an online Taco Bell fan community called "Living Mas." Hundley said his community often discusses the art and many other collector items with a cult following.
"Nostalgia plays a part in it too. There's a lot of other people who grew up with this inside their Taco Bells, so beside it just being a cool piece of art, its something that makes you feel good," said Hundley.
A following that is so die-hard you can still find the art listed on eBay for a pretty penny.
"I would snag one if I had the chance to, not looking spend thousands of dollars on one if I had the chance to get one out of a dumpster for a remodel I definitely would and throw it up on my wall," said Hundley.
"That part as an artist is really gratifying that there's this really hardcore audience of people who appreciate your work," said Smith.
To this day, the only charges ever filed in Westlake were against a juvenile more than a decade ago, leaving the heist history.
