Members of the U.S. military will spend a month painting a milelong barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border in an effort “to improve the aesthetic appearance,” according to a border official. The beautification project in Calexico, California, will use black paint and cost approximately $150,000, using funding from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s tactical infrastructure maintenance funding, the official told HuffPost in a statement. “While the primary purpose is to improve the aesthetic appearance of the wall, CBP believes there may also be an operational benefit based on our experience with painted barrier in Nogales, Arizona,” the official said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS A U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicle sits near a section of the U.S. border wall with Mexico in Calexico, California, in April. President Donald Trump has reportedly called the bollards ugly.

Benefits of painting the vertical posts, called bollards, include thwarting potential “camouflaging tactics of illegal border crossers” and increasing the difficulty of scaling it, the official said. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) criticized the painting project on Twitter, saying members of Congress were just informed of the plans by the Department of Homeland Security. “A disgraceful misuse of taxpayer $$,” he tweeted on Wednesday﻿. “Our military has more important work to do than making Trump’s wall beautiful.”

DHS informed Congress today that troops are going to spend the next month painting the border wall & “the primary purpose is to improve the aesthetic appearance.” A disgraceful misuse of taxpayer $$. Our military has more important work to do than making Trump’s wall beautiful. — Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) June 5, 2019