The Graffiti Highway, a landmark at the nearly deserted Pa. town of Centralia, is disappearing.

The abandoned stretch of Route 61 is being covered by its private owner to keep away the curious and, in the time of the coronavirus shutdown, the bored.

Centralia’s underground fire started when a group of fireman, on May 27, 1962, started a fire to clean up the town dump before that Memorial Day. They thought they had extinguished the blaze, but it spread through an opening in the pit to abandoned coal mines under the town. It’s been burning ever since.

The .74-mile stretch of Route 61 through town got its nickname from the graffiti painted all over its surface. Smoke from the underground mine fires waft up through its cracks, and the asphalt is spongy. It was closed to traffic more than 25 years ago.

The road is bounded by foundations where Centralia’s buildings once stood and a few remaining structures and cemeteries.

Pagnotti Enterprises, the Luzerne County-based company that took title to the land several years ago, moved in with a bunch of dump trucks and graders Monday. It’ll cover the road in dirt and other fill.

46 Centralia through the years

Read more:

Loss of Graffiti Highway ‘more dirt on the grave’ for Centralia, Harrisburg author says

Centralia’s ‘Graffiti Highway’ is finally getting erased

Centralia and the 'graffiti highway’ through the years: photos

What is Centralia? A brief history of Pa.’s ghost town

As fire burns on, Centralia residents reunite to remember hometown

Remaining Centralia property owners, borough to split $349,500 in settlement