DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines student mural project has been rescued by a fundraising campaign and city efforts to make things right. Officials blamed miscommunication for the loss of the mural on a flood wall outside the school district’s Central Campus on Monday.

An anti-graffiti team used beige paint to cover the colorful, 200-foot-long artwork, which had taken students nearly 100 hours to create.

An Internet fundraising campaign that began Tuesday exceeded its $4,000 goal by Wednesday afternoon. City officials have agreed to streamline approval for a new mural.

Ironically, the words painted over by the graffiti-abatement crews included “writing is sacred,” and “ideas are forever.”