MELBOURNE, Fla. -- Some Melbourne City Council members are looking into removing a controversial mural on Eau Gallie Boulevard, near U.S. 1.

Mural shows mutilated cartoon characters

Some want mural removed; others say it would be censorship

Planning and Zoning Board will determine if it fits in the city's guidelines

The mural depicts mutilated cartoon characters, including SpongeBob SquarePants, Wile E. Coyote and Homer Simpson.

"That would be awful, that would be censorship. I just can't imagine it," said local artist and member of the Eau Gallie Arts District, Derek Gores. "There's no such thing as art that every single person likes."

The mural was painted by Los Angeles-based artist Matt Gondek, who was inspired by Pablo Picasso's La Guernica.

Thursday, the city's Planning and Zoning Board will determine if the mural appropriate or not.

"I don't like it. It's not a great fit for this area," said Lisa Elaine, who owns a furniture store across the street.

She says after expressing her opinion she received threats and people who have never been to her store or even Melbourne started leaving her bad reviews online.

"I just like to remind people that I do have First Amendment rights to say 'I don't like it, it's not my kind of art,'" Elaine said. "And I do let local artists put stuff on my walls. I don't charge them so I don't hate art like all the people are putting on all of our social media pages."

She says she never asked the city to remove the mural, and that this is the city council's decision.

The city approved several murals to help revitalize the Eau Gallie Arts District.

However, city council members say Gondek did not paint what he was supposed to, so they asked the city manager to appeal a decision from the city's Historic and Architectural Review Board.

That board already approved the mural "as is" earlier this year.

"This is the kind of buzz that you bring here and it complements our local artists," Gores said.

The Planning and Zoning Board meets Thursday at 6:30 p.m.