Multiple signs at The Madeleine Catholic School campus were vandalized with posters last Saturday through Sunday morning. The posters, referencing the Sex Pistols’ controversial hit “God Save the Queen,” were hung up alongside alternates which pictured the school’s principal, Tresa Rast. Beside the images were sheets of text with a quote from the late Pope Francis.

Rast was placed on leave last Wednesday, shortly after the expulsion of a fourth-grader who reported being called the N-word by a white peer. In a meeting with the targeted student’s parents regarding the situation, Rast dialed 9-11.

According to KGW8, Rast has since told her lawyer that she has chosen to go on leave for her personal safety. The school had begun to receive backlash online after a report by The Oregonian on the expulsion.

This past weekend, a series of posters were put up in the central field of its campus in Northeast Portland. Plastered across signs bearing the school’s name, the posters were original and altered versions of the Sex Pistols’ “God Save the Queen.” Released in 1977, the song was a direct critique of the British monarchy —  a “fascist regime” — and Queen Elizabeth, the figurehead who they described as “not what she seems.”

The altered version of the posters pictured Rast, below the title, “God Save the Children.” Beside her image, in place of the musicians’ credits, were the words “Address Racism.” As opposed to the Sex Pistols’ “She ain’t no human being,” referring to Queen Elizabeth, they read “She ain’t no righteous Being.”

Also plastered with the graphics were bright green sheets with text saying, “We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism in any form,” a statement from the late Pope Francis made shortly after the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.

By 9:30 a.m. last Sunday, the posters had begun to be taken down by two individuals.