LEWISTON —  City officials said frigid weather and staffing constraints are why just the first word of a large graffiti tag stating “DUMP TRUMP” was removed from Veterans Memorial Park near Main Street on Monday.

City spokeswoman Angelynne Amores said Public Works crews plan to finish the job Tuesday — weather permitting — but the weather and staff time needed “made today’s completion unattainable.”

The graffiti a few hundred feet from park was found Sunday morning, and according to city officials, there was some confusion about whether the city or dam owner Brookfield owned the land where the crumbling wall stands near the Androscoggin River.

When Lewiston officials learned it was city property, Public Works was sent to paint over the graffiti. The crew left after covering the word “DUMP” in the early afternoon.

“They got as much as they could today and they’ll get the rest tomorrow,” Amores said, adding that since the project was unplanned, Public Works had to shuffle personnel to take on the job.

Mayor Carl Sheline said he was told earlier in the day that the crew ran out of paint because of the size of the graffiti.

“Politics aside, I am completely against graffiti in all forms and I sincerely hope that the vandals are caught and held accountable,” he said. “We can engage in rational civil discourse without the need for multiple cans of spray paint.”

Asked if he could think of any other reason why the city would leave the word “Trump” intact, Sheline said he didn’t think it was strange.

“We read from left to right,” he said. “It would make sense they started there.”

Last week, police in Bath charged a Phippsburg man with aggravated criminal mischief for spray-painting hearts and  kind messages like “spread love not hate” in various public areas around the city.